The Hangover Diner
by Yamitron
Summary: The Hangover Diner, with its mysterious breakfast gravy, is the place you go when you need to cure a the effects of a night of debauchery. Focused on the friendship between Yami Marik and Akefia, this is set in an AU, nothing is canon. Featuring genderbent!YamiBakura, very graphic sex, language, drugs, and alcohol references. Read at your own discretion.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was high in the bright sapphire sky, the clouds banished by the cool, gentle breeze from the east. Birds were chirping their sweet songs, and cherry blossom petals iced the ground, kissing the Earth softly as they landed with grace. Today, the city of Domino was beautiful, picturesque, breathtaking.

And Akefia couldn't care less.

His hands shoved in the pockets of jeans torn long ago, he glared at the beauty, as if he were cursing it for daring to contradict his mood. He wasn't feeling like sunshine, cherry blossoms, or bird songs. He was feeling like punching a wall.

Today, of all days, Marik was late. All Akefia wanted was to meet his best friend at their favourite crappy diner (christened 'The Hangover Diner' between the two for how they frequented it after a night of debauchery, and how eerily well their breakfast gravy cured the ailment,) and kill the Sunday morning he was cursed with. But no. His friend was now half an hour late.

Akefia checked his phone again. Throwing a hand in the air in exasperation, he decided it was safe to assume he wasn't coming. With a growl in his throat, Akefia stomped inside and sat himself down at a booth. Scowling, he unceremoniously barked his order at the poor waitress, and got out his phone again to glare at it in turn.

He continued in this pattern: growling, barking, aggressively checking his phone, growling, barking, aggressively checking his phone, until finally the plate of biscuits and cut up sausage, heavily ladled with breakfast gravy was set in front of him. He licked his lips and skewered the first bite of cut up biscuit with his fork, when the annoying pre-set ringer on his phone went off, causing him to jump. While the sound played, a robotic female voice chirped up in a clearly false voice: "Mare-eek calling."

"Oh for the love of—" Akefia rolled his eyes and slammed his fork down, pressing 'answer' on his phone. "You had better have a _damned_ good reason for standing me up, jackass."

"… Oh shit." Marik's voice was one of a person whose face was beaming, with every intent for good news, but upon a nasty realization, the face fell before the mouth could so much as suck in breath. Marik groaned into the phone. "Fuck. I didn't know that was- damnit. I'm sorry."

Akefia only growled into the phone in response. "My biscuits are getting cold."

"I'm sorry, I said! But hey look, I'll make it up to you."

He scoffed. "Yeah right. Unless you get down here twenty minutes ago, you won't be able to for awhile, buddy."

"No really. Here, I'll get down there now and tell you in person. It's going to be great. Clear your schedule tonight, okay? I'll see you in ten." And the line went dead.

"…." Akefia sighed and set his phone down. Marik was always so vague when he had good news. As if he wanted to tip-toe around it to make the news a surprise. But even after knowing each other for four years, Marik still seemed to miss how much Akefia _hated_ surprises. He would much rather the idiot come forward and say 'hey I just bought a motorbike', 'hey I dyed my hair purple', or the infamous 'hey I just got a gigantic tattoo covering my entire back'. But of course, instead Marik tended to call Akefia and say 'Guess what. You'll never guess. See you soon.' So instead of a call of warning, he had infuriatingly cryptic messages. Usually one would say 'I bought something cool' when referring to a PDA or a CD where the band is mostly techno sounds, not a motorcycle that you intend on storing in your friend's garage. Normal people would say 'I just dyed my hair, can't wait for you to see', not 'I dunked my head in a vat of chemicals, see you in ten.' And of course, generally people would consult their friends before getting hieroglyphics and symbols agonizingly tattooed across their back, rather than just showing up shirtless and smug. And this time all he had was 'clear your schedule' to go on. Ugh. What could _that_ possibly mean.

Akefia shook his head. Dumbass. But he'd be lying to himself if he tried to say he wasn't curious as to what the hell Marik was talking about. So there he sat, cutting up his biscuits, waiting for his friend to kick the doors open and stride through with that cocky grin plastered to his face. Akefia's lips twitched at the thought. He really couldn't believe they were friends sometimes, with how polar opposite they were.

As his fork scraped the plate, hangover successfully receded thanks for the magic gravy, the doors to the diner did indeed swing open abruptly, causing the other patrons to turn sharply to stare at the newcomer. "Sorry, sorry all." Akefia shook his head and waved his hand.

"Over here, moron." Gleefully, Marik rushed over and plopped himself across from Akefia, sitting upright in his excitement. "No new skin alteration? Pet from exotic lands you can't take care of? Some new sex thing you discovered you had a fetish for?" Akefia rolled his eyes, pushing the empty plate away.

"Pfft, I wish." Marik huffed, deflating a bit. "Those sound much nicer in comparison. Well, at least the pet does. I miss that tiger cub…"

"Get to your point, Marik." Akefia prompted, snorting.

"Yes—I, your best friend, that guy you owe a million favors to, have scored you and I invites to one of Mai Skankentine's parties."

Akefia just blinked. "What?"

"Mai Valentine? That bitch we knew in college?" Akefia nodded. "She's supposed to have the best parties in Domino. She's having one tonight, and I got you and I invites." He grinned, very pleased with himself.

"… Why… would we want to go?" Akefia asked, slowly. Marik was so obviously excited about this, he didn't want to pop his bubble with his reservations towards the idea.

"Be_cause_," Marik said, as if talking to a child, "Mai has friends all as hot as she is. Washed up models, actresses with low self-esteem, and let's not forget the classy sluts. Plus, open bar, and either a pill or a glass of water. It could be ecstacy, could be a sugar pill. Could be LSD, could be water. You never know~" He reached across the table and grabbed Akefia's hand, looking at him and grinning widely in encouragement. "You and I both have been in a dry-spell for two whole months. C'mon, this is your golden ticket to board the bang train to pussytown."

At this, Akefia just had to burst out laughing. "Okay, okay…" He chuckled, grinning but shaking his head. "I'm not _fond_ of the idea, but if you want to go that badly, sure, I'll go and be your wing-man."

"And I'll be yours." Marik beamed, flopping back in his seat. He checked his watch. "Shit—the party starts in ten hours. We've got to get some sleep. Hopefully we'll be up all night, if'n you know what I mean~"

Akefia kicked him under the table, but laughed again. "Fine, fine… But do let's be quick this time. Unlike some people, I work tomorrow."

"I'm just an innovator who's between opportunities." Marik grinned, slapping money on the table to cover Akefia's bill, and grabbed his wrist, pulling him out of the booth and out the door.

BREAK

"Ugh. I still don't understand why I have to go to this thing." The woman's upper lip curled, her eyes narrowed and pointed firmly at the floor. "I didn't exactly enjoy myself last time."

"Oh hush." The tall blonde woman replied, reclined on a large red leather couch. One leg was crossed over the other, and the blonde was turning her right ankle over and over, scrutinizing it from every angle as she loosely held a half-empty glass of wine in her fingers. "Are these shoes okay? I can't decide if they are too tall…"

"I'm serious, Mai." The pale woman scowled, stepping forward and into the other's line of sight. "I won't go this time. I swear it."

Mai huffed and blew a long tendril of hair from her eyes. "Listen sweetheart, if you want to move forward in life, you need to be seen by the right people, develop the right reputation. And besides, you could use a stress relief. You have just been getting tenser and tenser. Drink some more wine." She added, sipping her own glass as she went back to examining her foot.

"…" She pushed some of her long white hair behind her ear and scowled some more. "This is the very last one, you hear me?"

"Of course, darling. So was the one last month." Mai hummed. "I'll tell you what. I'll let you pick whether you get the drugs, and which one. Will that make baby happy?"

Bakura pursed her lips and leaned back on her heels. "… It might, actually. I might like getting high as balls." She sighed, taking a rather large gulp of the wine in her glass. "Mnh… Those boots make you look like a retired stripper, by the way." She added with a smirk, running a hand with thin fingers through her long hair.

Mai pulled a face. "I suppose. It's a good thing I have several others." Bakura gave her a look. "… Several dozen. But whatever. We've got time." She stood, flipping her hair over her shoulder and giving Bakura an almost sultry smirk. "But we do need to start setting up. We've got lights to set up, a DJ to hire, police to bribe, drug dealers to steal from, and alcohol to mix. We're swamped."

BREAK

"Feels like I'm at a club," Akefia grumbled unhappily, tugging the sleeves of his deep scarlet button up he had on, buttoned three fourths of the way up. The golden earring Marik had somehow talked him into wearing was looped through his ear and glinted in the pulsating light of the entryway, and his hand instinctively travelled up to mess with it.

"Don't touch that. And it should. That's what she's going for, I think." Marik murmured at his side, wearing only loose cargo shorts and a tight fitting black tank-top. "C'mon. I want to get to mingling."

Akefia rolled his eyes for the millionth time that day as Marik dragged him to the table with a platter displayed, reading 'Please take one'. Marik grabbed a small Dixie cup containing a circular pill, and Akefia took a Dixie cup filled with water. "Cheers," they said together, downing their selected mystery gifts in one swig.

It didn't take long for Akefia to see he didn't get one of the lucky doses of LSD. Weaving in and out of the crowd, eyes scanning for familiar faces, he instead found someone who clearly did have a lucky something. Eyes closed and head tilted back, lips parted in a smirk and hips swaying to the music, a tall woman with long flowing white hair and an eye-catchingly short skirt was in the middle of a throng of other people, constantly touching someone. The crowd was a mass of moving arms and legs rubbing against each other. In some cases, entire bodies were writhing close together to the pulsating music, slowly finding their way out of their clothes right in front of everyone.

Rolling his eyes at the idiots who were high out of their minds, his gaze was still nonetheless drawn to this woman. She was crazily high as well, he knew, but there was something in the graceful way she moved despite it, the controlled lack of control, the encompassing aura of power and satisfaction given off by her… it was sexy to say the least.

He had made up his mind. Forcing his way through the throng, he shoved people into each other, the faceless mob not even noticing as they continued their grinds and grasps of each other. Akefia finally found himself in the middle of the crowd. Unbuttoning his shirt all of the way to expose more skin, almost in an offering to the woman, he slid his arms around her and pulled her back into his chest.

"-!" She noticed this more than the others, of course, and struggled for a moment. "Hey, what's your—"

But he cut her off by sliding his hands down the length of her exposed arms, his body moving in rhythm with the music he'd by now understood the pattern of. She immediately stopped talking in favour of sighing in contentment, body falling into step with his. Akefia smirked. He knew how to take advantage of people well by now. And this little beauty would soon be putty in his hands.

She hummed and let her head fall back on his shoulder, arms wrapping around her own waist as they moved, since he was doing all the touching she needed. Akefia's thoughts flitted to Marik for a moment; they had parted ways after they had taken the contents of their cups, and Akefia hadn't seen him since. He was vaguely worried – what if he got the drug and his dose was too strong? – so he decided he would go looking for him if he did not show up in the next hour, lay or no lay.

"What's your name, beautiful~?" Akefia purred in her ear, nipping the lobe gently as his hands found their way up her arms and grazed over the top of her breasts, skin-to-skin with the help of the low-cut tank top.

"Mmm… You're not getting that so easily, asshole." She hummed, a 'heh' of a laugh escaping her lips as he touched her breasts. Bakura sniggered, rolling her hips back into his in a slow grind.

"Mn!" Akefia let out a laugh, rolling his own hips right back at her. "So no chance of getting laid, eh?" He murmured, grinning, his hands tracing her curves.

"I didn't say that." The woman grinned right back, turning her face into his exposed and warm neck. She stuck out her tongue and lightly licked the flesh there, much to his amusement and enjoyment.

"Then let me try to win you over in private…~" Akefia breathed, hands clasping on her stomach just above the beginnings of her skirt.

"…" Bakura scoffed and turned around in Akefia's arms, looking up at him with a smirk firmly plastered to her face. "That's awfully forward for someone who doesn't even know my name." She breathed, body melding into his and lips pressing themselves to his neck, while her hands found their way past his shirt and to his bare skin.

"Then tell me." Akefia grinned, tilting his head slightly to let her have access to his neck. "And let's go to a room before others get jealous I have this pretty lady all to myself." He smirked charmingly, his hands sliding down to lightly grope her ass.

As she made a soft 'mn!' sound into his neck, Akefia felt a hand clasp his shoulder tightly, and a voice in his ear shout 'There you are!'

He bit back a groan of annoyance as well as a sigh of relief to recognize his friend standing beside him, grinning widely. "There _you_ are." He replied, shifting the curious Bakura to his side, keeping her pressed into his body. "I worried you died."

"Nah, nothing can topple me." Marik smirked, finally getting a good look at him. "Wow, you move fast." He hummed, eyeing the woman clawing at Akefia's chest for both tactile sensation and attention. "Who's the chick?"

"No idea," he hummed, licking her cheek to see her shiver in approval. "She's high off her ass, though. Ecstasy most likely."

"Mnh. I'll tell you if you lick me again." She murmured, lifting the shirt a little higher on her abdomen to press into his chest, wanting more touch.

Marik barked out a laugh. "I want one." He sidled up to her, a hand touching the small of her back and slowly sliding its way around to touch her stomach in the little space there was between her and Akefia.

She shivered again, squirming. "There's only one of me…" She breathed into Akefia's neck, smirking. Bakura leaned up and murmured into the corner of the man's lips: "You'll just have to share."

Akefia's eyebrows shot straight up into the mass of white hair, a grin on his lips. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

She grinned back. "Depends. Are you inferring both of you fucking me into a bed while I helplessly gasp in pleasure?" She moved to his ear and let out a very convincing sounding moan, her hand pressed firmly against the center of his chest.

As his eyes grew unfocused and his tongue darted out to lick his now-dry lips, she moved to Marik and did the same, rubbing herself up against him as well. He responded more verbally with an audible: "Heh!... Heheh!"

"But the party's only just begun; let's have some _fun_ first." Winking, the girl began to dance between the two men.

Blending into the writhing mass of bodies, the three ground, swayed, rocked, and danced through the pulsating music and flashing coloured lights, Bakura never giving one man attention over the other. The secret to this was making each feel as though they were her favourite, to keep them both on strings. So when her chest was rubbing into Marik's, her ass was grinding into Akefia's crotch, and when her hands entangled in white hair, her head leaning back on the broad shoulder, she let her stomach and legs be touched and caressed by lighter tan hands.

Through their dance, Bakura first felt a dully warm tingling, trails of fire following a fleshen touch. Wonderful, but somehow, not quite satisfying enough. As they touched and she let the beat of the music permeate her body, she soon began to become more coherent, summoning her wits about her to hunt down what she wanted. And that want for the men was igniting a different warm tingling inside of her.

Pairs of lavender eyes kept meeting through the dancing, exchanging grins. They were quite lucky. Not only did they land a touch-crazy girl in the middle of this sea of face-less bodies, she was extremely hot, and seemed quite capable of handling both of them as she had so promised. It was a good thing they _weren't _high. They both wanted to _remember this._ Every minute detail, from the green and blue and red lights, to the length of the girl's hair and skirt, to the strange scent of roses that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. It was wonderful.

After nearly an hour of enjoying what they all would remember as the party of the year, Bakura leaned in to Akefia first, then Marik, and muttered: "I think it's time we start the main event, mmn~?"

Smirking, she rubbed her face into both of their necks a last time in her desperation for touch, and with that she turned around and began to saunter slowly away. Bakura sniggered to herself; boys were so easy. A rub here, a touch and a moan there, and they were putty in your hand. She wanted this. She wanted to have them – both of them – as soon as the blonde man's hand touched her. The touch of two men at once was so appealing in that instant the third hand grazed her flesh; she knew she had to have it. And what Bakura wanted, she got.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, the white haired woman danced her way through the crowd to what she knew to be a free bedroom. Glancing behind her with burning brown eyes, she smirked at the men trailing behind her, everything about her screaming seduction as she winked at them and slipped into the room.

The two turned to each other and blinked as the door shut in front of them, pulses elevated.

"Marik," Akefia murmured, (or spoke in less than a yell, with the volume in the room,) turning to look at him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Though happily mindless during their dance, the sudden reality of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks, sobering him up considerably. Logical Akefia was back, at least for the moment.

Marik frowned back at him. "Did you _see_ how hot she was? Of course I do—" He said back, trying to push past him and into the room. But Akefia held out an arm to stop him, frowning, looking seriously at him.

"This could change our entire relationship. We've never had sex next to each other, let alone with the same person at the same time." He paused, eyes hardening in their gaze. As soon as he saw that woman he wanted her, but even with how much he wanted to proceed, his friend was more important. He'd heard tales of stuff going wrong in threesomes before. Mostly ending with the two friends going in on it being unable to look the other in the eye afterwards. One was big, the other was small, the style of the other was weird, the moans that were far too disturbing, even seeing the other naked drove a wedge between two friends he had known in college for a few weeks. He and Marik had been through a lot together. He was essentially Akefia's only friend. And damn if a woman would drive something between them. "I don't want to lose your friendship over whatever happens once we walk through that door."

The other man only laughed, grinning at Akefia and patting his shoulder. "Oh, Akefia. Such a worry-wort." He shook his head. Marik had heard the same stories Akefia had, but held no reservations. He was fine sitting next to Akefia on the other's couch in only his underwear. What little shame he had was thrown out the door in lieu of the beauty offering herself to the both of them. "We'll be fine. Promise." He ruffled the white hair, and grasped the door handle tightly, pulling it open.

Akefia frowned at the carefree response, not believing it, but the worrisome thoughts were wiped from his mind the moment light shone into the room and illuminated what was inside. The still-nameless woman was lying on her back in only her skirt, writhing around on the sheets, humming quiet 'mmmn,' noises as her bare skin glided across the soft fabric. Evidently, as the two were talking outside, she had seen fit to discard her shirt (which was in a ball on the floor not two feet from the door) and give in to tactile stimulation however she could.

Bare breasts, surprisingly large for the slight frame, shone pale as snow in the low lighting of the room. The girl arched, accentuating them and her lean stomach, arms gliding on the cotton as gracefully as if she were submerged in water. Hearing the door open brought her part of the way back from whatever oasis she had secluded herself into, a crooked grin on her lips as she saw the two standing slack-jawed in the doorway. "Well come in," she murmured, looking at them from behind thick lashes. "I'd rather not have the _entire _party gawking at me."

The men entered the room, quickly shutting the door behind them. Rude though it was, they each considered this night to be a one-night stand, and therefore etiquette was thrown out the door as they allowed their eyes to become affixed to the body on display for them, twin shots of blood shooting to respective groins.

The girl chuckled. So _easy_. "Come _here,_" she demanded again, scooting back into the plush pillows of the bed to allow them room to approach. "I do bite, but I promise you'll like when I do." Grinning a crooked grin, her hands never stopped rubbing the soft cotton.

Marik was the first to respond, with Akefia not far after. The two approached the bed, settling down on either side of her, eyes still raking the body as hungrily as a man gone days without food. "I have two rules," she purred, letting her hands lift to entangle in blonde and white hair. "No biting my chest." Upon closer inspection, there was a faint crescent shape on her right breast. There was probably a very interesting story that went with that. "And if you fuck me," she continued, speaking with great clarity despite being ridiculously high. "You _will _use a condom if you want to keep your dick attached to you. Understood?"

The two exchanged glances – they usually avoided that if they could help it, of course – but this girl was worth it. "Yeah," Marik sighed, annoyed.

Akefia smirked somewhere between wry and bitter. "Yes, Miss…?"

She grinned at him. "If you're still gunning for my name, you'll have to pry it from my lips, now won't you~?"

At the flutter of her eyelashes, restraint was gone. Akefia leaned in, a small 'heh' escaping his lips before they pressed aggressively into hers. The girl immediately hummed, letting go of Marik's hair to properly entangle both her hands into the soft white hair attached to the man kissing her.

Marik quirked an eyebrow at the pair of them, but was in no way dampened. Akefia may have commandeered her face, but there was still an entire beautiful body for him to explore. He ducked his face into her neck, leaving hot, wet kisses along the pale skin, one of his hands running from the still-covered hip to the soft, bare thigh of the woman, feeling as well as teasing. Marik was into hips, legs, and ass more than he was breasts, which worked out well, as Akefia was pressing one of his warm palms into the girl's slightly-cold chest.

She sighed into Akefia's kiss, tilting her head to allow Marik more room. Her head was already swimming. Two hands, two lips, two warm bodies pressing into her from either side… She felt the absolute center of attention, the object of devotion, something she was just fine with being during sex. Had they been one-on-one and she in her right mind, she would be shoving one of them onto the bed, roughly kissing and groping him right at the start, making no questions between them as to who was running the show. Bakura was a dominant woman, and would ride her men so well, it was not uncommon for her to be referred to as 'Cowgirl' in uncivilized company. But this night, a combination of the rare threesome (only her second ever) and the drugs happily warping her mind, she was just fine with lying back and letting these two ravage her however they saw fit. She would direct them here and there, and maybe even surprise them if she saw them worthy, but for now, as she hummed and moved with their wandering hands, she was comfortable with melting into the sheets.

Calm, cool, and collected, it was only when Marik's teeth sharply nipped the soft skin of her neck that Bakura made an unintentional noise. Gasping, breaking her kiss with Akefia, the girl twitched as she uttered a high-pitched 'Ah-!' noise.

The men glanced at each other, grins spreading across their faces. It was rare to find a girl who would be into biting – though it was one of both of their fetishes. Experimentally, Marik nipped her flesh again, harder this time, more deliberately, to test her.

Bakura lightly moaned, arching her back, toes curling out of sight. That certainly answered their unasked question. The girl was into it.

Marik's teeth attacked her neck, biting a section, licking over the faint marks, sucking the spot until it glowed red, and moved on to another. All the while, Akefia leaned in to her ear, smirking as he murmured (above her controlled breathing and barely contained gasps): "So… Baby has a thing for teeth~?"

The woman could only muster a slightly trembling "Fuck the shut up," shifting around by the teeth alone.

Akefia sniggered, squeezing her breast suddenly as Marik's teeth sunk into her a little harder. Bakura moaned yet again, gasping out breathily: "Stop—stop…"

Both of the men chuckled as they raised themselves to sit on their feet, looking hungrily and expectantly at her. She lifted a hand to her face, pushing the long white bangs from her eyes as she fought to gain her breath back. "Ngh…" she grumbled, hand falling to brush her cleavage with feather-light touches.

Seeming to snap out of her drug and pleasure induced stupor, Bakura propped herself up on her elbows, looking between them, the ghost of her crooked grin on her lips. "So," she spoke, more coherent than before. "How was your taste?"

Marik grinned, hand caressing her thigh with longing. "Not satisfying enough by a long shot."

"Mmn, I'd be insulted if it were." Bakura grinned at him. "Enough though to whet your appetite for more~?"

"Insatiably," he returned, leaning down and smirking at her as he nuzzled her leg. It twitched, a spike of blood shooting down between her legs at the proximity of his face to her crotch. She ignored it, only winking.

"And you?" She turned, cockily raising her eyebrow to Akefia.

He sniggered. Taking the hand teasingly brushing her own cleavage, he guided it to the front of his jeans, letting her feel the impressive beginnings of what would soon be a tent in his pants. Her breath faltered as her eyes lingered there, then lifting to meet the smirking lavender eyes veiled by white choppy hair. She loved feeling how she made men want her, and his silence, letting his body speak for him, she found herself more uncomfortable in her panties than before.

Marik's eyes too lingered on their display for a moment or two – he'd heard stories of his best friend in action first hand, but seeing it, he had to admit there _was _something to the silent approach. It was one he himself could never do, but it sure seemed to work.

He was the first to break the silence. "Look, can we get to fucking? I haven't got all night," he murmured in irritated tones.

"Not so fast," she returned, sharp eyes going back to appraising him. "I propose a little game. The winner, I shall reward quite handsomely…" She pushed herself to sit up all the way, leaning back into the center of the four plush pillows, looking for all the Queen of the Bed. Her loyal subjects quirked eyebrows.

"…And what _is _this game?" Marik asked, suspicious yet intrigued at the same time.

"Well, just as men get turned on watching two women go at it," her smirk widened, arms spreading across the tops of the pillows. "Some women get turned on seeing two men~"

Two sets of eyes widened at the proposal. What the—

"I want the two of you to attack each other. I will declare the winner. And to the victor goes the best spoils, so give it your all. I'll stop you when I'm ready to stop you, so until then, act as though it is just the two of you." By now she was grinning from ear to ear, eyeing both of them. Yes, this would get her motor running just fine, if the two could pull it off.

Akefia frowned, logic coming back to the situation. "I don't think we can do that…" he chewed his lip, thinking. The one rule he had about this endeavor was that it could _not _hurt his friendship with Marik. That was everything to him. And one does not simply go about fucking their best friend and expect things to go right back to normal when the clothes come back on. He fidgeted, the girl's eyebrows raised almost irritatedly. "He and I are already close friends, I don't know if I am willing to jeopardize that for—Mnf-!"

Marik had rolled his eyes during the beginning of his sentence, and before he reached the end, he had grasped his face and crushed their lips together.

White eyebrows shot up into the tangle of hair, Akefia's lavender eyes wide with surprise. He was paralyzed for a few moments, eyes boring into Marik's, though they were shut tight. Regaining himself, Akefia pushed himself off of his friend, gasping for the air he hadn't realized he'd been denying himself.

"Marik, what are you—"

Growling, Marik grasped Akefia's shoulders tightly, and forced him down onto his back, completely ignoring Bakura's curious, interested, and slightly confused gaze. Pinning him down, Marik's lip curled, glaring at him as he hissed: "Shut _up._ Damn. Just shut up and let's do this."

And once again, Akefia's annoyed and somewhat taken-aback response was cut off as Marik's lips forced themselves onto his friend's, hands still keeping his shoulders pinned tightly to the bed.

Akefia growled this time, grasping Marik's shoulders and rolling them so their positions were swapped, and wrenched himself away from their kiss. The two glared at each other, but rather than pushing himself away completely from the situation, Akefia's eyes just burned into Marik's for a few moments. The expression was near unreadable, seeming to be a mix of several thoughts at once.

But he seemed to settle on one, his eyes hardening in determination. With that, he decided he might as well put his friend in his place. He suddenly leaned down, aggressively connecting their lips again to assert his dominant position. Marik struggled for a moment, but then gave in, grabbing fist-fulls of white hair to keep him there this time.

Bakura settled back into the pillows, allowing her body to heat up as she watched the two. Honestly, she had not expected her proposal to be jumped upon, much less this ferociously. She had anticipated two men denying the suggestion vehemently, insisting on some other challenge, making her have to sweeten the deal and entice them into it. But these two, though having reservations, seemed game. It was interesting, she thought, a hand traveling her own body, half-lidded eyes glued to the scene unfolding. Tonight would be quite the night.

Come to think of it, she had not once asked the men their sexual preferences. But, as they wrestled with their lips, at the very least they each had to be somewhat bicurious.

The only sound to be heard – apart from the pulsating music creeping in through the walls – was the accelerated breathing of the two, each grasping the other more tightly in some way as they waged war with their lips. Akefia's face was scrunched in a scowl even as he kissed, banishing all thought from his mind. His tongue suddenly crept forward, bullying Marik's lips into parting more than asking. Once granted access, Akefia's tongue pushed inside, feeling around the foreign cavern at the same time as searching for the twin tongue. It found him first, meeting him with a territorial push and shove of its own. The two moving masses of pink between them were visible between their lips, Bakura's eyes watching every wet-sounding movement.

Panting now through their noses, the two refused to give the other leeway in the battle. Akefia's hands, once pinning Marik's shoulders, left their position to roughly explore the body beneath him. His hands touched from shoulder to ribcage, hips, and thigh, the muscles twitching beneath his firm touch as he descended. Akefia could even swear he heard Marik's breath hitch as he lingered near his hips.

Marik's own hands moved from the white hair – once he was sure he would not break the kiss for some idiotic reason again – and instead traced the muscular back above him. His mind flashed to images of it he had seen in the past: pools, gyms, hungover early mornings, spur of the moment shirt changes. But he'd never thought of it in this way. Moving slightly as the arms attached traveled his body, he felt how powerful it was and how, well, _sexy._ He dug his nails into the tan flesh through the scarlet shirt, dragging them down in rough scratches.

It was only then that Akefia pulled away from his lips with a hiss, leaving a slight remnant of Marik's saliva on his lips. He licked it, eyes once again burning into his, but this time, burning with a budding lust as opposed to a confused desperation or irritation. Lips twitching to a smirk at his friend, lying beneath him, wild hair even moreso given the circumstances, Akefia leaned up, straddling his waist. Their eyes remained locked as his hands unbuttoned what was left buttoned on his shirt, exposing his chest and abdomen completely. In the blink of an eye, the shirt was tossed away, forgotten about on the carpeted floor beneath them.

Bakura certainly appreciated the view, as she shifted just slightly to gain a better view. The man was attractive, she couldn't deny him that. Chiseled just right to have muscle tone and prominence, but not so much as to be over bearing: he looked like a statue. She almost found herself regretting this little game with how much she suddenly wanted to be in that position, to have him towering over _her _like that, giving _her _that seductive look.

Her envy wasn't made any easier as the blonde man's hands did just what hers were itching to do. Clawing up the abdomen, the hands touched and grasped every muscle, nails raking across the broad chest to a hiss and light groan from the other, blood thundering downward in him. Marik's eyes hungrily roamed his body, drinking it in, saving it.

Marik's tanktop was soon being pushed up on his chest, lavender eyes staring down to the lighter tan flesh it exposed. Marik understood him and pushed himself up enough to yank the black thing off of his head, throwing it across the room to join Akefia and Bakura's shirts.

The two grinned at each other now, a kind of mad, instinct driven grin, a dimension apart from the friendly, sarcastic grins they usually exchanged. Suddenly, Marik pushed Akefia once again onto his back, pinning him so he wouldn't instantly try and escape, as he did. "Shh," Marik chuckled, holding him steady. "Let me."

Akefia's eyes narrowed, but the fighting ceased, much to Marik's enjoyment. Having heard many stories of what Akefia liked and didn't like first hand, Marik held quite the upper hand from a simple one-night-stand. Ducking his head and pressing it into the darker tan neck, Marik immediately set to kissing and licking the sensitive spots he had heard of, and it did not go unnoticed. Akefia arched, his hands immediately grasping the spiky hair, holding him still.

Marik would have grinned if he could. His hands trailed the gorgeous body below him, fingers brushing certain areas which tightened under his touch, until finally, he came to the very top of the pants. This is what he had been waiting for.

Akefia had almost forgotten this whole ordeal was just a game, a test put to them by the beautiful girl he wanted to bang. Even as her watchful eyes took in their every movement, he still could barely remember what this all was for. He was too busy losing himself to the touches, the kisses, the rough handling to remember who it was from or why it was happening. He didn't even care. All that mattered was that this not stop.

Skilled fingers danced at the top of the black pants, teasing as soft lips pressed and rubbed themselves in wet kisses to tan skin. And suddenly, all at once, a hand forcefully groped the front of Akefia's pants, white teeth digging into the neck stretched far to give the blonde more room. Without realizing what he was doing, Akefia let loose a low groan, arching up, pressing bare chests together for a brief instant.

Marik almost shivered. He could feel the hard cock straining through the pant fabric in his hand, push upward into him as Akefia involuntarily (he presumed) rubbed his hips upward towards the source of the sudden pleasure. It was all he could do to keep focused in attacking his neck, else he would look down, trying to get a glimpse of it. But, as he reminded himself, he would see soon enough.

Akefia's hands fell to the bed, grasping the sheets as his hips urgently rubbed up into his friend's hand. He hadn't realized until he was touched there how _badly _he had wanted attention a little further south. "Fuck—" he breathed shakily.

Digging at the erection with the heel of his palm, Marik continued to bite and suck at his bitemarks on the other. Though, he thought with some frustration, he wasn't getting much relief, himself. Fixing that with a few impatient rubs to Akefia's thigh with his hips, Marik was really losing patience. He leaned up to Akefia's ear, his breathing off, though not as much as the other. "You seem to be needing some, ah, _assistance,_ wouldn't you say…~?"

Akefia growled in response, jerking his hips into his hands.

'_Fuck.'_ Marik thought. "Why don't you let me help you with that, mm?"

A grin in his voice and on his lips, Marik leaned up once again to meet his friend's eyes. Akefia thought it would have been harder to concentrate, looking him in the eye as his closest friend ripped open his pants. But rather, it just seemed to make things better. It was much easier than he had anticipated to lose himself to the pleasure, to accept it was from another man. He found himself… Uncaring. How exhilarating.

His pants were ripped open, leaving him exposed to the open air. Somehow, in deciding what to wear to this party, Marik had convinced him into going commando. This seemed to work out well, given the circumstances. Akefia shivered at the coldness, eyes still locked onto Marik's face.

He would have been meeting his eyes, but as soon as the pants were opened, Marik's eyes descended to finally get a look at the cock he had felt in his hand just a moment ago. His eyes widened slightly as he got a look at it, standing tall, even visually seeming to ache for him to touch it. Obliging, Marik wrapped his hand around the base, earning an impatient sigh from Akefia. He was… bigger than he had expected. Were Marik not so cocky and self-confident, he might even feel a little self-conscious about himself. He wasn't small by any means, but still, he suddenly had new respect for the women that had him as their first.

Without realizing what he was doing, Marik was leaning down, fisting him more tightly as his head approached Akefia's quivering tip. It was instinct rather than conscious decision that made him stick out his abnormally long tongue, trailing it over the head and lapping up the drops of pre-cum accumulating there. Akefia let out a more frustrated sounding groan, hands grasping the sheets more tightly. "Marik, Jesus fuck," he growled, toes curling and stomach muscles clenching.

It was as the blonde man sniggered and parted his lips, taking the other man's tip to his mouth that Bakura shifted her legs and truly felt how incredibly wet she was becoming. She had been so caught up in watching the men's foreplay that she had almost forgotten her entire self, and hadn't thought to take care of herself to enjoy it more properly. In the blink of an eye, her blue and white striped panties were off, flung to the ground as her hand dove between her pale legs.

"Ahh—" She gasped and sank into the pillows as her fingers mechanically found her clit, rubbing it viciously to stir the pleasure coursing through her veins. The man she had gathered was called 'Marik' was sucking the other like a popsicle, bobbing his head up and down, lips, tongue, and hand all working in unison. The nameless other gasped and moaned, eyes shutting and lips parting.

Redness by now was evident in all three of their faces, but mostly in the woman straining and gasping to herself in the pillows, chocolate eyes usually narrowed in superiority for once wide with satisfaction, watching as the two men went to town on each other.

Marik's hand was viciously stroking that of Akefia which he could not fit into his mouth, while his lips and tongue were hard at work, alternately sucking hard and licking up the sizable cock. His free hand was between his own legs, clumsily undoing his belt and pants to get at himself, also needing some gratification, lest he go mad with want.

As his trembling hand finally grasped himself and started to pump, Akefia's groaned swear hitting his ears and sending blood flying south, he heard the girl's voice. He had forgotten about her, in his intensity. It took to the second time she called her command for it to register.

"S-stop."

Reluctantly, he pulled himself off of the man to look at her with irritation. (Apparently it was reluctant for Akefia, as well, who growled and sneered over at her with a look saying 'this had better be good'.)

The woman was now stripping off her skirt, stark naked as she crawled over to the pair of them. She said not a word as she shoved Marik off of Akefia, something in her hands. "I've decided," she mumbled, ripping the condom out of its wrapper, looking neither at Marik nor Akefia. "The winner of the battle," she clarified.

Akefia propped himself up on his elbows to look at her, as if he just registered what was happening. The look of irritation faded from his face, replaced by expectation.

And, as it turned out, his expectation was apparently met as cold but nimble fingers slid the condom onto him.

Marik growled. "Why is it him? I did all the work—"

"Shhh…" Bakura purred, taking his head in her hands and pressing a sloppy kiss to his lips. "I won't leave you out. I promise~"

Without another word and without so much as asking permission, she climbed on top of Akefia, spreading her legs above him. Blindly with one hand, she guided him to line up with her by now exceedingly wet entrance, brown eyes looking not at Akefia, but at Marik. A smirk twitched to her lips as she looked at him, and, with a slight 'Ah-', she guided him inside of her, sinking down onto him.

Akefia groaned again, shifting his upper body to land and melt into the sheets. This was bliss for him. Being sucked at with suck skill, and then without much warning, being taken into the tight, slick pussy of the woman he had been vying for for what seemed like hours, all without much effort from him? Intoxicating. If he died this night, he would die a very happy man indeed.

Marik, on the other hand, was a very different story. Though he watched the girl as she fucked herself down onto his best friend, he was not contented. He felt slighted- cheated. He had done the majority of the work in that test of hers, and yet she picked Akefia over him, probably because of his size, he thought somewhat bitterly. Still, he wasn't going to let this ruin his night. He would get his, alright. He would get his.

The moan of the girl was one neither of the men expected out of her. They didn't know what they _did _expect, but a high-pitched, very stereotypically sexual sounding "_Ahh-!_" was not on the list. It was, however, _very _much welcome.

She had sunk down as far as she could go, taking all of Akefia inside of her. As she sat on him, legs trembling as she adjusted, her eyes were on Marik, appraising him, debating how to tackle him. She doubted she could handle double penetration – not like this. Coming off her high but still not level-headed, mixed with the pain of the white-haired man alone, it just wasn't something she could manage just now. A titty-fuck would just be anti-climactic for him, she knew he deserved more for even attempted blowing of the man on her command.

That left her with one option she felt she could handle, that also rewarded him.

"You…" She said, strained between breaths. "Kneel."

Doing as he was told without a second's thought, he sucked in breath as the girl tightly fisted his length, watching her carefully and a little apprehensively. She was still trembling from having Akefia inside of her, and from the sound of it, Akefia was getting anxious himself from holding still for so long. Still, she didn't move, but to lean forward to Marik's ear, giving him a few well-deserved pumps with her hand to an exhaled groan from him.

"You deserve a reward... as well," she breathed, rocking back and forth on Akefia just to move and lessen the strain on the two of them. "You seemed – mnn, – pretty eager to obey my little game suggestion… Heh…" Bakura pulled back to grin almost darkly at him, some implication playing behind her eyes.

Marik's temper flared, but before he could call her out on it, she went wild. Tightly fisting him and pumping him as though he were a shake-weight, she suddenly jerked up and fucked herself back down on Akefia's by now aching cock, earning surprised moans from all three of them.

Akefia's hands found her waist and – finding he didn't need to guide her as he usually did with his women – he simply held her, eyes on their hips meeting with slight slapping noises. This girl certainly knew what she was doing. His eyes wandered upward, catching sight of her breasts, bouncing tantalizingly back and forward with her thrusts above his face, too far to do anything but stare. Oh, this was perfect. "Agh, _fuck,_" he groaned, eyes rolling back in his head.

Once a rhythm was established that she could live with, the girl focused her attentions on the blonde, bending down. Before Marik could so much as breathe a surprised "Shit-!", she had replaced her hand with her mouth, expertly adapting to take him in time with her own hips.

A sort of relief flooded his system as he was attended to by someone other than himself. He let go of his anger at the girl, his frustrations at being somewhat cock-blocked, and his urge to throw the girl off and resume his work, choosing instead to simply enjoy the skilled mouth sucking at him like he was a piece of candy.

A chorus of moans was sounding around the room now, high-pitched "_Aah-!_"s and low, gravelly "_Fuck_"s, gasps and hiccups, swears and calls of "Oh, God-!" The voices, the sound of the squeaking bed springs, the pulsation of the music outside the doors to the party beyond, all of them swirled in all three of their minds, seeming to blend together. It wasn't until several minutes in to the rough love-making that any of them noticed the rhythm matched that of the song outside.

Marik's hand descended to tightly fist the girl's hair, pulling it back suddenly as he felt himself nearing the edge. She took the sign, gasping around him at the yank of her hair, and decided to amp them all towards the chasm of orgasm.

Akefia's hands grasped her breasts and she in turn clamped down on him, rolling her hips with him inside of her. He groaned, arching his back, eyes trying to get a look at her face and noticing her actions to Marik for the first time. His eyes narrowed for a split second, but then, as her muscles shifted around him, he bucked up into her and closed his eyes, forgetting what he had seen as soon as the lids slid over his eyes.

"Nngh… What is your—your _name_," he demanded, squeezing her breasts as he let himself near his limit.

She didn't answer him. The only sound she made was a humming sound around Marik, making him gasp and buck into her mouth. Long ago she had learned to suppress her gag reflex, or she would not have been able to take him just then. As it was, she held onto him, suddenly sucking hard and even going so far as to swallow, letting her muscles tightly contract around him.

At this, Marik couldn't help himself. He moaned, loudly and unmistakably, letting his seed spill into her mouth. Hand tightly fisted into her hair, she was unable to pull away, and so instead took it all, somewhat regretfully swallowing again to keep from choking.

Akefia writhed at the sound, loving and hating it all at once. Still, it fueled him, and his hands found the girl's hips to insistently move her to meet his uneven movements. Within a few harsh and rough bucks that would surely leave her with difficulty sitting the next day, he was just nearly there. The woman was jostled so much from the unexpected release of one man and the eminent release of the other, she had to gasp, yanking herself away from the blonde to give herself room. Her hand once again rocketed between her legs, furiously rubbing at her clit a second time, letting the sparks fly inside her body.

And it was as though a sudden tidal wave crashed inside of her. Her body suddenly seized up, muscles locking and then writhing uncontrollably of their own accord, her back arching violently and head throwing itself backwards, white hair splaying everywhere. The girl's face twisted with rapture, a final loud moan erupting from her throat, completely laced with ecstasy. The orgasm overwhelmed her, leaving her unable to do, say, think anything at all.

Marik, having just recovered from his own orgasm, just barely caught hers, eyes glued to the incredibly sexy sight. Any and all feelings about the girl vanished as he watched; nothing mattered anymore.

Akefia was the last to let go. It was the muscles clamping down so tightly on him coupled with the euphoric moan that let him let go of himself, coming inside of her silently. Akefia wasn't a moaner when he let go. Rather, he writhed, shook, twisted with ecstasy, unable and unwilling to control himself.

In a few long, tense moments, the three just breathed, paralyzed, eyes distant and unfocused. And then, all at once, they fell over, panting, drifting on the plain between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Marik was of course the first one to recover. Eyes on the ceiling, he frowned to himself as soon as he could function properly. That did not go how he wanted. Not at all. All he got was a blowjob? All that build-up, all that foreplay, and all he got was a blowjob. A good one, but still, that wasn't the point.

All at once, he was feeling pretty low. He stood without a word, hands fixing his pants, back to the other two.

Bakura was just rousing herself, rubbing her face as she looked to see who had gotten up. Back to her, she could finally make out the tattoo that she had only been able to catch a glimpse of before. It was large, intricate, and beautiful in an exotic kind of way. "Nice tattoo," she sighed groggily, resting her head back in her arms.

Marik ignored her. He put his shirt back on and turned again to look at them both. Akefia was still out of it, eyes closed, sprawled out on the bed with his pants around his knees. Marik had hoped to leave with him, but by the state of him, Akefia was not going to be able to sit up, let alone leave, any time soon. Bakura was lying on her front, somehow facing Akefia, though she fell the other way. She must have rearranged herself. Her eyes were on Marik, looking at him with half-coherent interest. "Leavin' so soon?"

Marik pulled a face. "Things didn't go how I wanted. Maybe if I hurry I can grab another braud." He looked sour, shoving his hands in his pockets.

The woman chuckled. "Tough luck, jack. A girl can only manage so much," she pretended to sigh, playing a victim. The grin gave her away, and Marik rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Look, if dumbass comes around, tell him I left, alright?"

She shrugged. He took that to mean yes, and, with a last irritated look at the pair of them, strode out, back to the party.

The slam of the door roused Akefia enough to open his eyes again, yawning and stretching. "Mmn," he hummed, seemingly unaware of his whereabouts.

Bakura grinned again, crawling up and flopping herself across his chest. He grunted, immediately pushing himself up enough to get a good look at the foreign, warm weight on his body. Blinking several times as he saw her, he seemed to have difficulty processing who exactly she was. She wiggled, sniggering, and it suddenly hit him, because he laughed, flopping back against the bed.

"Mn, Jesus," he sighed, wriggling in the sheets, just relaxing. Bakura moved again, lying ontop of him, resting her head in arms crossed over his chest. She studied him, eyes taking in the small scars here and there she hadn't noticed from afar.

"Bakura," she said, eyes on his again. The lavender ones opened, looking at her.

"What?"

"Bakura," she repeated, crooked grin spreading on her face. "My name's Bakura."

"…" Akefia laughed, wrapping his arms around the girl, squeezing her. "Akefia, dollface~"

The two chuckled, and lay there for quite some time. Akefia never did realize Marik had left.

BREAK

This time, it was Marik's turn to seek the healing breakfast gravy of The Hangover Diner. Sunglasses shielding his eyes from the too-bright sun, he sank in his seat, a hoodie covering his spiky hair and taming it similar to his twin brother's. He groaned as the plate was set in front of him, shushing the waitress with his hands, banishing her from him.

He speared some biscuit smothered in gravy, and shoved it vehemently into his mouth, not caring as bits of biscut crumbled around his plate or drips of gravy dribbled onto his favourite sweatshirt. None of that mattered. All that was important was curing this god-awful headache in his head.

The previous night was somewhat of a blur. After the sex romp, Marik had been rather burnt out on sex to actually seek another woman. Instead, he numbly left the party, heading to a nearby bar he only rarely visited. Alcohol generally wasn't his thing, but for some reason, he desperately needed some last night. He didn't recall what it was he drank, but it must have been a lot. Marik had woken up on the floor of his apartment as opposed to in his bed, typical of his twin getting him somewhere and leaving him to suffer on the ground as punishment for the hassle.

While Marik couldn't blame him his actions, he was none too happy with how it affected his head. Namely, negatively. It felt as though a jackhammer was splitting his head in two

Stuffing more food in his mouth, Marik got out his phone, setting it on the table. No text messages. That was strange. He would have thought Akefia would have texted him at some point. Asking where he went when he wasn't there when he got up from the post-orgasm high, making sure he got home alright, or even checking on him in the morning before Akefia went off to work; Marik had expected at least one. But still, his phone was dead silent as the minutes ticked by

It was two, now. Two in the afternoon. Akefia would be getting off work in three hours. Marik frowned once the thought of his best friend touched his mind again. He had been shoving the thought away continuously during his time being conscious, and, come to think of it, that may have been why he drank so much the previous night. He didn't _want _to think about what happened between them, but, somehow, it kept creeping up in his mind.

There he was, towering on top of him, smirking that smirk he usually only gave to woman to tease their affections. Hair falling in his face just enough, Marik saw his hand reach up and grab a fist-full of the stuff, and for once, Akefia let him. Broad chest, muscled abdomen, stretching above him, his hands allowed to roam over them, touch them. Scratching on instinct, his head tilted slightly, pleasurable groan emitting from him at the pain…

Marik kicked the table accidentally, the clattering noise sending enough pain to his head to lose his train of thought. He grumbled, rubbing his temple with his palm as he crammed the last of the biscuit in his mouth, flagging the waitress down for another plate. It was thoughts like that that he had been trying to drown out last night.

Besides, Akefia towering over him wasn't what he wanted to envision. If he must remember that excursion, why not remember the good part? Akefia underneath him, eyes hard but letting him take the lead, his marks showing on the tan neck stretched out to give him access. His hand automatically reaching down to grope him, that gasp and moan, the hard thing straining in the fabric, practically screaming at him to release it –

The plate was set down in front of him, and Marik dug in, scowling. He hated this. Hated every second. Every moment that went by that put him one bit closer to madness. He kept trying to tell himself he was just reliving what he wanted to surpress, what he wanted to bury and forget about. What he wanted was to hang out with Akefia, get back to normal. Maybe once they destroyed some Zombie's heads together, the images would die, and they could go back to just being friends.

Marik sighed, rubbing his eyes. What was he going to do.

BREAK

That night, Marik found himself walking along the sidewalk to his friend's rental house, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes firmly on the ground. He hadn't called ahead, but usually that wasn't a problem. He was intending on barging in as he always did, flopping on his couch, and putting in a video game wordlessly, expecting him to join.

Somehow, though, his heart was pumping a little too fast as he raised his fist, banging on the door.

He heard a voice call something indiscernible, which he took to be a loud 'Come in'. As soon as he opened the door, he realized it was not.

Naked once again, the girl from last night was sprawled out on the couch he had intended on plopping on, rolling her eyes at him. Akefia was a few feet from the door, quickly tugging on a dusty pair of jeans. "Oh, Marik, hey," he grinned, nevertheless walking to the door and standing between Marik and the entryway. "I wasn't expecting company."

"…. Other company, you mean," Marik corrected, eyes narrowing in a scowl at the woman who grinned and wiggled her fingers at him.

"Yeah, er, right," Akefia sighed, seemingly flustered. "Look, Marik, this isn't a good time."

"… I can see that." He turned his scowl to his friend, surprised at how low his heart seemed to be sinking. What the hell?

"I'll, er, text you later, okay? We can hang out tomorrow," Akefia half-grinned, trying his best to make the situation less awkward.

Marik said nothing. He sighed, turned, and walked back out, down the sidewalk, turning in the direction of the bar.

**[[A/N: **Yikes this was long. This story was a good three months in the making. Anyway, I wasn't intending on it being two parts, but it just might be, depending on how my life goes coming up. Leave a review, I'd love feedback on this. **]]**


	2. Chapter 2

Akefia was… anxious. Anxious to say the least. It had been a week since he had seen Marik, and for whatever reason, he wasn't answering his phone. Texts, calls, picture messages accompanied with all capital letter text screaming at him to pick his phone the fuck up, all went unanswered.

"He's embarrassed," Bakura chuckled, pulling her shirt back over her head. "Let him sulk it out, he'll be fine."

"Eh, you don't know him," Akefia returned, running a hand through his tussled hair. "He wouldn't just skimp out on me like this. When he's embarrassed, he tries for humour. Avoiding me all together…" He frowned, sitting up in bed to properly see the girl.

She rolled her eyes, tugging her skirt back on. "You know, as sexy as it is to complain about your friend right after fucking, I think I'm gonna get goin'. I've got shit to do tomorrow, I'm actually going to need to sleep."

Akefia only hummed, flopping back in his bed. "You know the way out."

"How gallant," she snorted, flipping her hair as she exited.

He sighed, staring at his ceiling. Things had progressed in an unexpected matter, after the party. The two had laid together for quite some time afterwards, making jokes that were funny only to those coming down from drugs and crazed sex. But some amount of lucidity remained, for the two decided they wouldn't say goodbye at the end of the party. They exchanged numbers, and agreed on a no-strings-attached relationship of sorts. Just fun. They had been with each other three times already since the party, twice at Akefia's, once at Bakura's places.

Akefia's life felt rather full, now. He was a building services engineer, which was a nice sounding title for designing, installing, operating, and monitoring the mechanical and electrical aspects of buildings being built. He was an educated electrician, essentially. Waking up at 5 in the morning, being on site between eight and ten hours, smelling like burnt cloth and wires, and staring at light fixtures in buildings were all normal facets of his life.

He spent most of his day working, his evenings either relaxing or hanging out with Marik when he invited himself over, and his weekends and Friday nights out on the town doing whatever he liked, again, usually with Marik. He was his only real friend left over from college, and being usually anti-social with males, he didn't make any others. But then, he didn't really feel the need to. And now, with Bakura just a text away and willing, he wouldn't have to go far for sex.

Akefia wasn't really one to date, either. He didn't see the point. He'd have to spend his precious time with another person all the time, buy her things, surprise her, keep her happy, talk to her, woo her, and only occasionally get laid. Why complicate his life with that? Now he had Bakura mutually at his beck and call, he had everything he needed.

Yet he still felt somewhat empty. He assumed it was due to the absence of his friend, and once he had him back, everything would be perfect. … Perfect.

Without that major facet of his life, Akefia felt almost as though one of his limbs was missing. It wasn't so much that he had gone a week without seeing him - that would be a bit clingy, and if there was one thing that bothered Akefia, it was clinginess. No, it was more the obvious inability to contact him. As long as he had the capability of sending Marik a text and having him answer, even if it was just a short dialogue of 'My place, now.' 'Aye, aye, captain,' he would be placated.

But not being able to reach him at all was making him antsy. Would he just leave his phone somewhere and choose to avoid him, just because of a threesome? He wouldn't have thought so, and yet, here they were.

Thinking back on what they did was a bit of a haze. The last he remembered was Bakura's instruction to go at each other, and after that, things were a blur of colours, moans, sensations, pleasure. Bakura had told him what had happened in vague tones; Marik had taken him into his mouth and sucked him like a kid with a lollipop, while he himself all but melted into the sheets. Bakura then hopped up and rode him for all he was worth.

Blood rushed to his face in a blush, his eyes narrowed and looked away, remembering flashes of the incident. Marik's hand around him, stroking, his lips sinking down on him, finally finding a practical use for that damned long tongue of his, other than licking Akefia's face. Rather, he licked something much better entirely. Their eyes met, moans bubbled to their lips –

"Tch."

Akefia scowled at the ceiling. He had not had any sort of sexual contact with a man before then. It just wasn't what he was in to. So it was with frustration and irritation that he found he had done _nothing _to stop him, beyond his original apprehension. Once the actual foreplay started, his defenses dropped faster than a ton of bricks. Why?

He sighed and rolled over, burying his face into one of his pillows. Sleep now. Tomorrow he'd go bang on Marik's door until he answered. All he needed was to talk to him, and then things would be back to normal. But for now, sleep…

BREAK

Marik was currently in quite a similar position. Face buried in his pillows, flopped on his stomach, he, however, was just waking up. "Mnnh…"

"Oh, Jesus Christ." The slightly nasal-y voice Marik so dreaded hearing was huffing at him from the open door to his bedroom. "Are you _still _sleeping?"

Clinging to a pillow more tightly, Marik said nothing. His eyes shut tightly, and he concentrated with all of his might, willing his brother away. It was such a curse, sharing an apartment with your twin.

His intent ignoring of the other was cut short as something hit him across the head. "_OW-!_ Malik, what the actual fuck!"

"It didn't hurt that bad, whiner. Get up. It's nearly eight at night."

Marik grumbled as he reluctantly kicked the blankets off of himself, rubbing the spot on his head. His eyes landed on the object just a hand's reach away. Picking it up, it only took a few seconds for him to realize what it was. "… You threw your _shoe _at me?"

"_Your_ shoe. Which I tripped on in the kitchen. Again. Get up." Malik flicked the lights on and off on him, scowling. "Come on, boy. Up up up."

Growling, Marik stood, stumbling toward the door. "What do you even want," he huffed, clearly irritated. "Can I not just live here without occasionally being struck with footwear?"

"No." Turning, Malik strode through the small apartment to the kitchen, where the empty pastel coloured cardboard boxes led Marik to believe he was nuking a frozen dinner. "You've done nothing but lie about and watch the television for the last week. And as much as I love walking out here and seeing you eating cereal out of the box in your underwear…" The tone was irritated, but seemed to mask something else. Worry, perhaps? "Have you been looking for a job?"

Marik rolled his eyes. "If I'm just going to be interrogated, I'm going back to bed." He folded his arms and leaned on the counter next to the refrigerator, debating the pros and cons of cracking open a can of Red Bull.

"Look," Malik sighed, turning back to look at him again, a frown on his face to go with his tone in his voice. "Something's the matter with you. You don't have to talk to me about it, but that means I can't help you with it. And, I love you, but shit; you're becoming such a burden. You _need _to get a job, or I don't know what I'm going to do. You need to do something to help me help you."

Frowning back, Marik stood a little straighter. "You know I can't do that pussy pencil-pushing job like you. I tried."

Marik had been out of work for eight months now. He and Malik had both gotten entry-level jobs at a local business, making phone calls and trying to get people to buy things they don't need with money they don't have. Or at least that's how Marik remembered it. It was a blur, most of the time.

They would wake up at six, shower and change, sit in traffic, walk to work from a parking lot way too far away, sit in a cubical, do the same thing hour after hour after hour until four thirty, punch out, sit in traffic on the way home, heat up a frozen dinner, eat, sleep. After about two weeks of this, Marik had gotten quite unstable.

That was how he lost his job. Sitting at his desk, jiggling his leg to keep himself awake as he stared at text on the screen that all ran together, one of his bosses approached him. "Malik, isn't it?"

His eye twitched. "Marik," he had corrected, chewing his lip and keeping his eyes on the screen.

"Ah, yes. The other one. Well, _Marik,_" He remembered his voice being incredibly grating, a dull drone of monotony. He was sure if he recorded his boss talking, he would have the universal cure to insomnia. "You know, that paper you turned in to me? Yeah, it was on golden rod. I get the periwinkle."

This time his shoulder had twitched. "My mistake," Marik responded dryly, mechanically. "I'll fix it in the future."

"See that you do," his boss nodded, turning and heading out.

Not ten minutes later, his other boss was knocking at his cubical. "Malik, right?"

"Marik," he corrected in the exact same tone as before.

"Ah, yes. Well, Marik, that paper you turned in to me? Yeah, it was on sea foam. I get golden rod."

He cleared his throat. "My mistake," he said, mechanically. "I'll fix it in the future."

"Please do."

Ten minutes after that, his third boss came to his cubical.

"Malik, right?"

"Marik."

"Ah, yes. Well, Marik. That paper you turned in to me? Yeah, it was periwinkle. I get sea f—"

And before the statement could be finished, Marik snapped. He stood and punched his boss so hard, he had a black eye for the week to come. Or, that's what Malik told him. Marik had been escorted off the premises by security, and was barred from returning to the building.

"Yes, it didn't work out," Malik rolled his eyes. "And that's fine. There's plenty else out there that you could do if you honestly thought about it, actually tried to get a job."

Marik's lip curled. Turning away, he extended a hand, grasping his dark purple coat he wore whenever he went out at night. "Look, I'm going to get going. You should get some sleep. You sound tired."

"…" Malik rubbed his eyes and wearily eyed him. "Marik… wait."

It was with no shortage of reluctance that Marik turned on his heel and looked back at his twin, hands curled into fists and resting on both his hips. "Yes?"

"… I'm sorry. I'm stressed, I shouldn't take it out on you." Malik sighed, refusing to look at him. He never willingly admitted he was wrong, and even more rare was it that he would discuss his feelings. The vague hostility drained from Marik's face, rather listening with a different sort of frown. Malik still did not look at him as he continued. "I'm… getting worried about you, alright? I don't know how else to deal with this, other than yelling at you, and that doesn't seem to be working. Ordinarily I'd let you work all this out in your own time, but you've been different recently. Distant and defeated. It's not like you. Please just ––" His eyes hardened, a scowl on his face, fixated on some point on the wall. "…Go. Go get your life sorted. Or I'll throw another shoe at you."

Without another word, Malik grabbed a plate from the microwave that was still half-frozen, and stalked off for his bedroom, slamming it behind him.

Marik's eyes widened as he departed, and winced as the slam shook some of the plates in the cabinets. He was taken aback. His situation must have been worrying and draining on him for some time if he went out of his way to make a point at it, rather than darkly hinting.

Running a hand through his hair, Marik shook his head. Whatever. Malik was not his concern. And though he trailed off after suggesting he might throw Marik out, he highly doubted his twin would do something so cold to him.

He returned to his room, threw on cargo pants, a black shirt, and tugged on his purple coat. He could see his phone in the corner of his eye, lying untouched for the last two days. Morbid curiosity more than anything drove him to walk over and gingerly pick up the device, checking his messages.

Four text messages, three calls, one picture message, all from Akefia. One message from Malik and one from a number he didn't recognize.

'_Hey, you busy?'_

'_I'll take that as a yes. Tomorrow, then?'_

'_Marik, where are you? Why aren't you answering?'_

'_That's it, I'm filing a missing persons report.'_

The picture was of a Domino police station, with the caption 'I'LL DO IT. ANSWER ME.' underneath.

The corner of Marik's mouth twitched upward. He was really missing Akefia. But he just wasn't ready to talk to him yet. Going over to his place risked running into Bakura again, something he wasn't sure he'd ever really be able to handle.

He could see Akefia's face, playfully threatening him as he wrote the text messages. Suddenly, it felt as though a fishing hook pierced his heart, being reeled in haphazardly with the extremity of his yearning to go to his friend's house, plop on his couch, and pretend nothing had happened. Pretend there had been no threesome. There was no Bakura. No stigma.

But that was going to be impossible. Not when he was actively and consciously trying to deny the obvious.

He put the phone down, a sinking feeling emerging from the pit of his stomach. Expertly keeping his face blank, even though it was only for his own benefit, he turned without another glance at the phone and strode out of the small apartment, heading wherever his feet would take him.

The phone would just sit there, blinking its lights for no one to see as it ran out of battery.

BREAK

It was the crack of early when a knock resounded in the apartment, causing Malik to look up from the pot of coffee he was in the middle of brewing. At first, he thought it was a trick his mind was playing on him, but as the sound happened again, louder this time, there was no mistaking it was indeed some idiot knocking on the door this early. Scowling, he set down what he was doing to shuffle off to the door.

"What do you want," he said loudly, suspiciously to the knocker.

"Oi, is Marik here."

Malik's shoulders slumped as he recognized the loud, gruff, none-too-pleased voice. Of course. "No. He hasn't come home since last night."

Malik could almost feel the air get tenser, the temperature drop a temperature or two as the other replied. "…. May I come in."

It was a question, but one that was clearly meant to be answered with a 'yes'. Malik didn't really see much of a choice, so he carefully pulled the heavy door open.

Striding in, Akefia's eyes were narrowed; his entire body seemed to be tense. "Where is he."

"I don't know." Malik's eyes rolled as he returned to what he was doing before he was so rudely interrupted. Tan fingers found a deep ebony mug, and just as they were about to pry it from its perch on the cabinet shelf, a large hand wrapped around his wrist, keeping him from moving. Malik's grey eyes met Akefia's angry violet ones, and even as he steeled himself and made his own eyes cold, he knew he wasn't getting out of this. Much as he put on a front, Akefia could scare the living daylights out of him if he actually tried.

"Where did he go. Why isn't he answering my attempts to contact him." Akefia all but growled, grip on Malik's wrist tightening.

"Ow – Let me go first." Malik sneered right back.

After a moment of silence, Akefia's hand reluctantly let go of the smaller wrist, but he did not step back. Malik bit back a sigh. "…Well?"

"…" Rolling his eyes again, the blonde turned and leaned on the counter, looking at the wall rather than the (as he wouldn't admit) intimidating man. "I honestly don't know where he went. He left last night around eight thirty and he doesn't seem to have returned since."

Akefia's eye twitched.

"… As for why he's not answering you, I don't know. All I can say is he's been sleeping from dawn till dusk, and when he _is _awake, all he does is sit on the couch and stare mindlessly at the television. His eyes are glazed over; I'm not sure he's... actually watching anything." Halfway through his explanation, his cold expression faltered, giving his real feelings a chance to peek through: concern.

The bigger man didn't move. That definitely wasn't good. Marik ordinarily was energetic, upbeat, joking. For him to just sit, stare, sleep, and ignore him, something must be seriously wrong. Perhaps worse than he had thought.

"… And you have absolutely no idea where it is he might be."

Malik sighed. "All I can tell you is some nights he smells like alcohol, and others pine."

He was just about to ask where Akefia would start looking, when he heard the front door slam. Shaking his head and allowing his worry to come through again, Malik returned to his morning routine, reaching for the pinch of sugar he liked with a distracted hand. It was as he was pouring salt into his hot cup of coffee that he really stopped, and shook his head. "Oh, Marik…" He frowned, rubbing his temples. "If you don't get better soon, I'll end up accidentally poisoning myself."

BREAK

Akefia threw his phone into the glove box of his car, angrily yanking the wheel to the left. He had just called off work with the transparent excuse of being sick. But if he got in trouble later, that was something he was willing to risk. Tapping his wheel without any real pattern to it, his narrowed purple eyes scanned the streets and street signs, looking for any trace of to where his friend might have gone off.

Alcohol and Pine… That really only led him to two conclusions. One, he was at a bar, two, he was at a park or a forest. The only forest in Domino was a dense trail leading up a small mountain just outside of town, and he was sincerely hoping that was not where he had gone; it would take hours to find him.

Though that might have been in his personality to traverse a large expanse without a map or any sense of direction. Akefia chewed his lip as he thought of this, eyes narrowing further. When he finally _did _find him, he was torn between what he would do. On the one hand, he could pull him into a tight hug, then shove him away and demand he explain himself. On the other, he could slap him in the face and demand he explain himself. It all depended on the condition he found him in.

Tires squealing in protest as he peeled up to a bar near to Marik's apartment, Akefia's eyes glared down the sign in front of the dingy looking building. Tipsy McStagger's. Lovely.

He cracked his knuckles as he strode inside, his stomach muscles clenching in preparation of the worst.

Inside was a dull, dreary atmosphere. Early morning meant the bar was officially closed; the bartender in the middle of shooing away drunks slumped over on the not-so-clean counter. Hung all around in the bar were burnt out neon signs, some still flickering pathetically. The place smelled strongly of vodka – which Akefia saw was due to one of the drunken men having knocked over a full bottle onto the entire floor.

The man was currently being shoved at with a large broom by the agitated bartender, being cursed at with murmurs of: 'Geddup ya lazy bum,' and 'Clean up's added to yer tab, ya ugly brute...' The bartender was a portly man in his late fifties by the look of him, bald save for tufts of hair on either side of his head, and very red in the face. He looked up with small eyes at Akefia, who was currently scanning all the slumped over men for any hint of wild blonde hair or tan skin.

"Oi, sorry mate, we're closed."

Akefia turned to the bartender, giving him a dark look, which made the man shrink back just slightly. "I don't want anything from here. I'm sure I'd get some sort of disease." He advanced on the bartender, the drunk rousing to see him coming and instantly pretending to be asleep again.

"I'm looking for someone. I need to know if you've seen him."

The bartender puffed himself back up, resting a red hand on the grey-ish bar and trying to be self-important once again. "I seen a lot of people 'round here, what with this bein' a bar an' all. I might need some help."

Akefia's upper lip curled, and the bartender seemed to deflate a little once more. "You would remember him. Tall, lavender eyes, tan skin, violently wild blonde hair…"

His eyes widened, and he seemed to shift his posture just slightly. "…. Yeah. Yeah I know 'im. Odd lookin' fella, but keeps t' himself."

"Tch." Akefia didn't take kindly to the description, but he was in need of finding Marik. The unflattering comments can wait. "Has he been here recently."

"Yeah. Earlier t'day, as a matter of fact. Came in 'ere all angry and twitchy, demandin' drinks and slamming money on the table. Didn't mind, o'course, money's money. But 'e kept mumblin' t'imself. Seemed a bit… er… _unstable_, there's the word. Broke one of my glasses an' all! Squeezed it in 'is fist an' smashed it. 'e left after that." The bartender's fingers stroked the tufts of grey hair as he remembered, nodding as he finished.

"… Any hint of where he might have gone." Akefia scowled, disliking the man more and more. He could picture the incident fairly well, and it didn't sound promising.

"Eh… Stars. 'E said somethin' about stars. Now either get out or 'elp me get these bums outta my bar, big guy." The man picked up the broom once more and resumed his haphazard jabs of the man still slumped over on the rickety stool, groaning loudly in protest as the broom hit him.

Akefia said nothing else as he turned on his heel and strode out.

BREAK

It took three more stops until Akefia finally found him. The stars comment led him to the nearby park, where at least he found an earring of Marik's. But clearly, he was not there. The trail went cold for an hour in which he looked in the forest but saw no sign of anyone there recently, and then at a nearby meadow. Nowhere could he find any other sign of him.

He ran his hand through his hair, debating getting some breakfast and going in for at least a half-day, when it dawned on him where he might have gone off. And sure enough, as he peered through the windows of the Hangover Diner, he saw wild blond hair hunched over in a booth to the far corner of the diner.

He frowned, first at his own stupidity to not even have thought to check here until he was hungry, and then again at the imminent confrontation that was sure to take place. But he sighed, fixed his expression, and carefully got out of the car.

By now the walk inside and to the booth was mechanical, and by his luck, Marik was facing away from the door. He managed to be completely silent as he walked up, eyes fixed on the other. Marik hummed, his eyes shut as he savoured the bite of food he was chewing, his plate of biscuits and sausage smothered in gravy 2/3rds eaten.

"… That gravy does wonders, huh."

Marik jumped, and flinched away from the sound of the voice. His eyes shot up to look at Akefia, who was smirking tiredly at him. An awkward moment passed wherein Marik did not respond, so Akefia took the liberty of sitting himself across from him instead.

"Thought I'd find you here. The alcohol at the bar I looked for you in did not seem high-quality."

Again, Marik was silent. He just fixated his for-once wide purple eyes on his friend, sitting back in his seat.

Akefia frowned, looking wearier still. "…Are you even going to talk to me face-to-face, or are you ignoring me here, too."

Marik winced. He cleared his throat before speaking. "… Yeah. Sorry about that."

Another tense silence followed until mercifully a waitress sauntered to their table. "And hello there sir, can I getcha anything?"

Akefia ordered what Marik had and leaned back in the booth, arms folded, making it clear he was not going anywhere. Marik frowned, going back to eating his food. Several minutes passed before Akefia spoke up again.

"…. Okay, seriously, Marik, what the fuck are you doing."

Sighing with recalcitrance, Marik slammed his fork down on the table and gave him an almost exasperated look. "That's just it, Akefia. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Isn't that obvious?"

Masking the slight surprise at his outburst, Akefia narrowed his eyes further. "Well what's your problem?"

"I don't fucking know!" Marik angrily rubbed his face, saying nothing as the plate of piping hot food was set in front of the man opposite him. He waited until the woman walked away again before continuing. "I don't know what you want me to say. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you? Fine. I'm sorry. Are we done?"

"…. What is the _matter _with you? You're behaving so unlike yourself."

"Just because I'm not answering you? Maybe I just wanted a break. The world doesn't revolve around you, you know."

Akefia just blinked, staring at him. He didn't know what to say to that. After a moment of being stared at, blood rushed to Marik's face and he returned to his plate, inwardly cursing himself for lashing out at him like that.

The food untouched in front of him, Akefia just studied Marik's face, seeing the red there. There was clearly something he wasn't telling him. But what was it? "…I talked to Malik this morning. He told me what you've been doing the last week. Or rather, not doing. He's almost as worried about you as I am, you know."

Marik's fork stilled and he was silent, but just for a moment, as he picked the fork back up and more forcefully stabbed a piece of sausage.

"…Marik, please. Is… this about what happened at the party? With us and Bakura?" He twitched quite noticeably. "…I'll take that as a 'yes'. … What about it bothered you? Talk to me – I can't help you if you don't."

He took his first bite of his own food as he carefully eyed Marik, waiting for a response. And for once, one came, after a minute or two of the blonde chewing and thinking it over.

"… Ah... For one, it was extremely uncomfortable running into you and her again, clearly just after having sex."

Akefia nodded slowly, looking at his plate as he smeared the gravy around. It wasn't as good when you weren't hung-over. "… To be fair, you didn't let me know you were coming. I would have warned you."

Marik only shrugged.

"Is my relationship with her bothering you? We're just fuckbuddies, really. She's not going to be my new favourite friend to hang out with, or anything."

Marik sighed again, putting his fork down to rub his head slowly.

"…Marik?"

"…That you are fuckbuddies… is what bothers me," he sighed, shoulders slumping slightly.

Akefia's brow furrowed. "Did you want her? I can text her, I'm sure she'd be willing to fuck you, too–"

Marik groaned in annoyance and frustration. "No. Akefia–– … I don't want to talk about this anymore."

The white-haired man frowned at him in confusion, eyes boring into his, trying to decipher what it is exactly that was bothering him. He kept coming up empty. It was extremely irritating- he felt as though he had been so close to getting it!

"I'll see ya." Abruptly, Marik stood, tossing some money on the table as he turned to leave, taking quick strides back out the door.

"… Wait—" Almost panicked, Akefia yanked out his wallet, threw a ten on the table, and stood, hurrying to follow him out. "Marik—"

It wasn't until they were out in the parking lot, under the beams of the sun starting to really rise in the sky, that Marik whipped around and glared at him. Akefia stopped two paces behind him.

"…You really want to know what's bothering me."

"Yes." Akefia gave him a hard look, face set.

"No matter what it is, you _really _want to know."

"_Yes,_" he repeated, growling this time.

"Are you sure."

"Marik, just fucking tell me alread–– Mnf –!"

But before he could finish his sentence, Marik grabbed him by the front of his shirt and crushed his lips on the other's, eyes shut tightly.

Akefia just blinked, not moving. Far too surprised to react to the kiss positively or negatively, he did nothing until Marik shoved him away again. It was with still more confusion and almost pity that he saw the redness tingeing his cheeks, and the embarrassment surrounding him as he looked off to the right, glaring at the asphalt.

"…Er," Akefia tried, blinking again and rubbing his neck awkwardly. "You… like me, then?"

Marik sighed heavily. "Yes – No– I don't know." Shaking his head, he seemed to struggle for words. "I… am not sure what I think. I don't want to like, go out with you or anything," he wrinkled his nose at the prospect, "I just want us to be back to normal. … But at the same time, I want to fuck you," he winced, refusing to meet his eye.

Flashes of that night appeared in both of their minds, neither one of them wanting to grasp onto it in a sort of masochistic way, denying themselves the dwelling on memories they wished they could let themselves revisit, but couldn't. It hurt, but a sort of good hurt. The kind that comes with having a dirty little secret you try and keep even from yourself.

Akefia shook his head slowly. "I… Don't know what to say," he said lamely, a hand rubbing over his mouth and chin.

Marik's eyes shot up to his, searching them, embarrassment creeping up on him again. "… Yeah. So uh, I guess I'll get going. Again. See you," he fidgeted, turning around again and starting off.

He didn't get very far, however, as a hand gently wrapped around his wrist to stop him. "No, don't leave."

Marik tensed, but turned around to look at his friend (was he still his friend?) again, silent.

"…. Let's… go back to my house. We'll talk and shit. Or whatever," Akefia said awkwardly, though his eyes met Marik's with sincerity. He didn't know how he felt about this yet, all he knew was he didn't want the other just walking away from him again. If awkward conversation meant he knew where Marik was, and that they were talking again, that was good enough for him.

Slowly nodding, Marik took his wrist back and – using it as an excuse not to meet his eyes any longer – looked around the parking lot for his car. "Taking off work, are you?"

"Yeah," he sighed, leading him to his car a short walk away and hopping in. "I thought this was more important."

Marik slid into the passenger seat and rested his cheek in his palm, quite forcibly staring out the window during the drive, rather than look straight ahead, or lean anywhere near him. The air in the car during that short drive was as tense as the two men in it, each of their minds going a mile a minute. They were both thinking quite similar thoughts, mostly along the lines of 'Well, what on Earth do we do now?'

The tires crunched on the gravel drive way up to Akefia's ranch house, and, without speaking, the men got gingerly out of the car and shoved their hands into their respective pockets, shuffling inside. Habit more than anything else caused them to deposit themselves on opposite ends of Akefia's beat-up couch, both of them looking down at their hands in their laps.

"So," Akefia tried after a minute or two of silence. "Let's… Talk."


	3. Chapter 3

Bakura drummed her fingers on the cold wooden desk, supporting her cheek in her opposite palm. She let out a pointed sigh, making her boredom no secret from the bumbling man sitting opposite her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Touzoku, I'm hurrying, I–"

She rolled her eyes. "I have a meeting I need to get to. Either you have my papers for me or you don't. So which is it?"

The man, a greasy looking, unattractive man in his early twenties with glasses slipping down his nose, hastily rifled through the unorganized looking briefcase in his lap. "I- they were here this morning, I d—"

"You're wasting my time," she sighed, standing and flattening the blouse hugging her slender figure. "It was just lovely speaking with you," she added sarcastically, smiling deceptively sweetly, "I'm sure we'll be in contact." And with that, she flipped her hair, grabbed her bag with long, white fingers, and all but glided out of her office.

The man's helpless sigh brought a grin to her lips. There was nothing she liked better than toying with men. Sexually, Emotionally, or just in every day instances like this, it gave her such a power rush. The man was supposed to have gathered blueprints and facts and figures of a building that had just suffered an electrical incident recently after being built. She was to use the figures to do research and see if the building was worth digging into.

Bakura was a journalist – specializing in exposés. Domino rarely had anything too good, so she was always dying to find something good. But her journalism position took backseat to her own personal amusements. The man's papers had indeed been there earlier. She had stolen them from his bag while he had excused himself to use the restroom. (Which he did several times during their meeting, he should get that checked out, she thought dryly.) Kleptomania isn't kleptomania if you're stealing it just because you find it funny.

She was also quite the compulsive liar. The meeting she mentioned she had needed to get to was none other than a date with Mr. Panera and his delicious bread-bowls. She strode purposefully down the street, her scarlet blouse's ruffles blowing about in the slight wind, and her cotton black skirt seemed to dance around behind her. She was quite a beautiful sight.

The actual walking in, ordering her favourite French onion soup in a bread bowl, waiting for her order, and sitting down at a table with her drink and food passed by in a bit of a haze. She was so used to the routine by now that it didn't even register. She settled down in a little booth in the corner of the restaurant, her favourite place to sit once again free. This was the best place to be, if you were a people-watcher. From the back corner, you are free to actively survey the areas and tables around you, watch people and analyze them, all without much possibility of being looked at yourself.

It was in such a position that she scanned each newcomer to the restaurant, sharp eyes catching every face. One face walked in that she recognized, despite the drugged mind-state she had been in on their first meeting, and the post-coital glow she had been in on the last. Tired looking and worn, the spiky hair and odd markings around his eyes were a dead give-away. Grinning at the familiar face, Bakura eyed him over her still-steaming bowl of soup, tapping her spoon on the bread idly.

He had his hands shoved in his pockets, a sign he didn't want to talk to anyone, and kept his eyes averted from those whom he had to speak with, like the cashier. He looked somehow uncomfortable and content all at once, with anti-socialism drizzled on top. Interesting. Not entirely different from the man she met, but certainly not the same.

He grabbed his order – a salad? Odd, – and entered the actual restaurant area, eyes downcast even while looking for a table.

Bakura couldn't resist. "Fancy seeing you here, eh?"

The man didn't look up at first, assuming she was speaking to someone else, but upon reiteration (louder this time), he looked up. Freezing when he recognized her, he then pulled a sour face and nodded curtly.

She laughed. "I won't bite, I promise. Not here, anyway~" she teased, folding her hands together and resting her chin on them. "Come sit with me."

Marik frowned, hesitating. "… Maybe some other time." Abruptly, he turned and walked away, to the opposite side of the restaurant and sitting down there to eat his lunch.

Undeterred – rather, amused and interested – Bakura gathered up her lunch and belongings, and followed right after him. She settled herself into the small, two-person table opposite him, grunting girlishly as she settled in.

Marik looked up with that same sour look on his face. "Do we really need to do this."

"Yes~" She grinned, wriggling into place. "I think it would be nice for us to have a little chat, don't you?"

"No," he said bluntly, leaning back in his chair and picking up his cup of coke with the tips of his slender fingers. "I would have been quite contented never speaking to you again."

"Oh, that hurts," she pretended to deflate and frown, a hand delicately raised to touch her chest, as if touching her wounded heart. "Here I am, being perfectly cordial, and you shoot me down like it's hunting season. Give me a chance, huh, handsome?"

He wrinkled his nose at the intended-to-be flattering comment and grasped his fork more tightly and speared some chicken and lettuce on the end of it, aggressively eating and saying nothing to her.

She took that to mean he was listening. Sipping her soup, she hummed, chocolate eyes studying him closely. "…So what's been wrong with you?"

Glancing up at her, Marik only quirked an eyebrow. "Wrong with me?"

"Yeah, Akefia won't stop whining about you," she rolled her eyes. "Quite annoying, really. So what is it that's so important you're sulking and causing my post-sex bubble of bliss to be punctured?" Humming nonchalantly, she ripped off a piece of bread and popped it into her mouth, eyebrows raised and eyes on him, expectant.

His hand stilled at her first sentence, but continued on after that as if nothing had happened. "What goes on in my private life really doesn't concern you, woman," he said lightly, almost conversationally.

She hissed and drew back her hand from her food. "Ouch! That was so cold it hurt." Bakura raised an eyebrow again, pursing her lips. "I suppose it doesn't, but when it affects _my_ private life, we begin to have a problem, Sexy."

His eye twitched. "Stop doing that," he said with annoyance, lip curling.

"What? Using flattering names?" She grinned, mock-innocently.

"Ugh. Yes. It might flatter Akefia, but that's because he's an idiot. But just stop it. Yech."

She laughed again. "Whoo boy, you are one interesting fella. But fair enough, let's both cut the bullshit, hmn?"

His eyebrows pulled together, but nevertheless he said nothing, just going back to eating his food.

"Want to at least explain your beef with me?"

Scowling at his food, he thought for a moment, debating what – if anything – to tell her. "… I… did not take kindly to the overt preferential treatment you gave him over me. That's all." He shrugged. A half-truth, but not a lie.

"…" Smirking, she slowly raised herself from her chair, sauntering over to where he sat and standing directly behind him.

"What are you–" He blinked, uncomfortable with her standing so closely behind him.

"Shh." Slowly, her arms slid across his chest, smirking to herself. "I'm sorry. Is that all?"

'…_. Slut._' Marik thought, repressing a shiver. He reached up with his own steady hands to pry hers off of himself. "Don't touch me. Yes. That's all."

Her eyebrows disappeared in her hair. She really must have pissed him off if he wasn't responding to an overt advance like that. Removing her arms from around him, she took a few steps back, swaying her hips as she made her way back to her seat. "Hm. So there's nothing I can do that can fix this, eh?"

"Nothing at all."

Nodding, she dropped the flirtatious vibe and settled on his obvious contempt for her. Whatever, win some, lose some. "Are you at least talking to him again?"

Marik nodded back. "Yeah. Last week."

"And?"

"It's really not your business what happened, is it?"

Lip twitching, she shook her head pityingly. "I suppose not."

Nose wrinkling, the Egyptian stood, packed up his salad, and grabbed his cup. "G'bye, woman."

"Bakura. And yes, goodbye." She smirked, a finger tracing the lid of her cup as she watched him. He didn't even look back at her as he strode out of the small restaurant.

'_How amusing,' _she thought, fingertips twirling around the ends of her hair. '_What a stick in the mud.'_

BREAK

As soon as work ended, Bakura found herself settled in the back of a questionable looking cab headed towards her best friend's apartment. She picked at a loose thread on her blouse as she stared out the window at the other near-stationary cars in the heavy post-work Domino traffic. It hadn't been a particularly bad day, but nevertheless, it was never not a good idea to swing by Mai's place to chat and maybe drink. Though, she thought as she chewed the inside of her cheek, a good stiff drink sounded lovely too.

The car lurched slightly as they peeled up to Mai's apartment, tires complaining against the sudden stop. Bakura fished out a barely-sufficient sum of money and thrust it into the hands of the malodorous cabbie, quickly stepping out onto the street and slamming the door shut behind her.

Wind ruffled up her skirt as the car sped away, leaving her chocolate eyes to travel up the vast expanse of the upscale apartment complex, taking the time to really look at the building as well as inhale fresh air she had been badly craving in the small, foetid* cab.

Her heels clicked on the marble floor of the lobby as she mechanically pressed the elevator call button and stepped inside the box. Three others joined her: a businessman returning from work, and a mother and her child, tightly grasping his mother's hand and rubbing his eyes with the other. Bakura held back the urge to sneer at the companions – she really preferred to travel in enclosed spaces alone.

The mother and child departed first, much to Bakura's respite, leaving her with the businessman looking as worn out as a second-hand travelling coat. Her eyes darted to him and away again, knowing she could do nothing to nick anything off of him in the small space with mirrors on all sides.

The man gave her a longer sidelong look, tongue darting out to wet his lips. She almost shivered.

"Going home?" his voice was more present than his appearance would indicate, solid and deep. Confident.

"Visiting a friend, actually," she replied airily, eyes focused on the little number indicating what floor they were on. Still ten away…

"Lucky friend," the man grinned, shifting his weight.

"Mm."

"…Say," the man shifted once more, turning and looking at her completely. "Maybe after you're done visiting your friend, you might want to––"

Mercifully, the elevator 'ding'ed, and the doors opened to the interior of Mai's apartment. "This is my stop," Bakura said loudly, cutting him off and brushing against him as she made to leave. "Nice meeting you and all."

The man's last call never made it to her ears as she quickly stepped off and onto the hardwood floor of her friend's hearth room.

She shuddered as the elevator ascended, pulling out what she had thought to be a money clip she had taken from his pocket as she brushed by. But luck was not on her side- it was just a small container of mostly gone matches. Bakura sighed.

"Mai," she called, tapping her foot impatiently. "I need a drink, it happened again."

"Help yourself!" Mai's voice sounded up the staircase to Bakura's right, muffled slightly through a closed door.

Not having to be told twice, Bakura walked over to where she knew the alcohol to be kept, opened the door, and helped herself to some of the rum Mai had in her stock specifically for her friend with a palate for strong drinks. The sound of the bottle uncorking was music to her ears, and Bakura sighed as she inhaled the smell. Just what she needed.

"Anything else you wanted, besides raiding my alcohol?" Mai grinned, descending the stairs as the liquid washed into her mouth.

Bakura hummed, holding up a hand as she swallowed the burning liquid. "Mnn– No, not really." She grinned right back, folding one of her arms into the other holding her stubby glass. "Just wanted to stop by on my way home, maybe talk."

Mai shrugged, high-heeled boots clicking as she strode the linoleum floor to a mirror. She studied herself, fixing her hair as she answered. "What's there to talk about?"

"Well, you know that guy I had wrapped around my finger?"

"The big, handsome one? Oh wait, that's all of them." Mai grinned over her shoulder at Bakura, who winked. "The tan one."

She nodded. "He's been really… _Whiny_. As soon as he's got his boxers back on and settled in the sheets, he opens his mouth and starts to complain about this friend of his from the party."

"That's attractive," Mai sniggered, walking forward to sit on her couch. Crossing one leg over the other, she patted the seat opposite her for Bakura to join her. After replenishing her glass, she did just that, sitting with legs spread slightly apart – much less lady-like than her professional attitude.

"I know," she curled her lip slightly at the memory. "Think he's worth keeping around?"

"That depends," Mai sighed, an eyebrow quirking as she studied her friend. "Is the quick, good sex worth the whining? It would have to be pretty annoying for you to give up a man at your beck and call, rather than start from scratch… What is it he's talking about?"

Bakura shrugged. "His friend isn't talking to him."

"That's all?" Mai chuckled dryly, a single 'heh' escaping her glossy lips. "He seems a bit attached."

"Extremely. And it's only been two weeks now. Although…" She frowned, tapping her glass as she thought back. "I suppose when I'm really thinking on it, this last week he wasn't whining. He just shut down after sex. Stopped doing anything. Almost more annoying than the chatter, really, but still…"

"So?" Mai's eyes began to stray; she was losing interest.

"Well… I ran into his friend today. He seemed distracted and refused to talk about Akefia at all. They'd had a talk, but… Seems to me Marik was as tired and weary as Akefia was. Ugh," she scowled into her drink, taking another swig. "Honestly," she continued, once the burning sensation died down. "Usually men are so predictable and emotionless. These two are a couple of emotional pussies."

Mai chuckled on instinct, standing and wandering over to her stock of wine. "Let's watch a horror movie. You'll feel better after that."

Bakura's eyes shut and she nodded in thanks. "That sounds just the thing I need. Nothing like watching people get scared shitless to make you happy."

BREAK

It was much later that night after two horror films and two bottles of wine that a knock came to Akefia's door. Knowing it was most likely open; the slightly red-faced girl pushed the door and opened it, glancing around. "Oh Akefia~" she called, grinning and looking about the inside of the surprisingly dark ranch home. "Where have you gone off to?"

"Bakura?" A voice came from the rear end of the house, echoing in the empty spaces. He sounded off; distracted.

"Yeah," She called back, shutting the door behind her. "Is this a bad time or something?"

"No, no…" His voice was getting closer as his footsteps drew nearer, approaching her. Out of the darkness stepped the tall man, white hair seeming to glow in the dim lighting. "I had just … er, not expected you is all."

"Do you ever expect me when I just drop by like this?" She was frowning now, her arms crossing over her chest as she put all of her weight on one foot.

"… Sit?" He gestured a dark hand to the beaten-up and abused sofa.

Her contented mood spoiled, Bakura settled down on a spot with the least amount of stains or stuffing peeking through, and crossed one leg over the other. "If you're not going to kneel in between my legs, can this wait? I'm horny as hell and tipsy to boot, let's do this already."

To her further embitterment, he just settled beside her, frowning, eyes hard. "Bakura–"

"No," she sighed, falling to the side and resting her head in his lap. She looked up at him with a well-rehearsed pout, her lower lip trembling just slightly. "No talk."

The man sighed and cleared his throat, trying again. "B–"

She sighed more heavily, turning her face towards his crotch and letting a cold hand trace little circles on his thigh. The muscle twitched beneath her fingertips and she heard his breath stop. "We can talk later…" she promised sweetly, nuzzling her face full on between his legs.

It seemed to take a Herculean effort for the man to lift his own hands and guide her away, removing her hand from his leg and her head from his crotch.

"What is the problem?" Bakura huffed, suddenly extremely irritated and letting it show. "What is so important that it can't wait?"

Akefia shook his head, pushing her to sit up beside him and refusing to look at her. "We can't. Not tonight."

Anger flaring, Bakura's lip curled away from her pearly white teeth. "And why the fuck not?"

A tan hand lifted to ruffle the back of short white hair as the man paused, seeming to search for the proper words. "Er… It's just really not a good night for this. I've got a lot on my mind."

"You've had a lot on your mind for ages!" She scowled, grabbing his face to force him to look at her. "What is going on with you."

Shaking his head, Akefia looked at her with tired eyes, bloodshot. She hadn't noticed that before. "…Stuff's come up," he offered vaguely, chewing on his words carefully before saying them.

Temper flaring and desperation creeping into her stomach, Bakura grasped his hands and forced them up to her breasts, glaring at him with a look that would wither some away.

But Akefia held strong. After a moment where his fingers twitched, hesitant, he forcefully pulled his hands away. "I said no. You should probably go home. I can call you a cab if you want," he said, monotonous and distant.

"…." But before he could so much as locate his phone, Bakura got up and stormed out, slamming the door hard behind her.

BREAK

The man sighed, rubbing his face. The door slam reverberated in his ears for a few moments, during which he briefly debated going after the girl. But no, if she was going to sulk and be that way, he wasn't going to waste his time trying to reason with her. That was what she wanted.

He groaned to himself and stood, slowly and carefully walking back to his room. Sighing heavily, he re-collapsed on his bed, stretching out in the soft cotton sheets, so nice on his tired and worn back. He reached over after a moment of letting his muscles relax and retrieved his phone from his bedside table.

Almost sensing his hand, the device vibrated as soon as he touched it, the screen illuminating with a light so sudden it dazzled him.

"Akefia?"

Sighing again, Akefia's eyes closed as his fingers mechanically flew across the keys, typing a reply.

"Sorry. Unexpected visitor. Where were we?"

"Whether or not we should meet again tomorrow."

The corners of Akefia's lips pulled down slightly at this suggestion. It had been another week since he had seen Marik, but under quite different circumstances. This time the other was willing to talk to him, but the conversations were often… awkward. It is difficult to know what to do or say when your best friend says they want to fuck you.

He thought back to the last time they were together.

"_So, let's… Talk," He had said after a minute or two of silence._

_Marik said nothing. His hands fidgeted around in his lap, fingers twisting and untwisting in a nervous tick. It was quite obvious he was as uncomfortable as Akefia was._

"… _Has it always been this way? Or is this … new?"_

_Marik looked as though he sucked on a lemon. "I… don't know. It's just been apparent to me the last week." Akefia was silent. "I have been denying it. But I may as well face it."_

"…" _Akefia pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what you want me to do, Marik."_

_Out of his periphery, he could see Marik shift a bit, a little further away from him. Akefia bit back a sigh. "… I don't want you to do anything."_

"_Yeah, you do." Frowning, Akefia turned his head to look at his friend, whose eyes were still firmly directed down at the floor. "Tell me… It's a perfect world; you can have and do whatever you want. What is that world like?"_

_Marik blinked, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "What?"_

"_Just do it."_

"…" _Marik was silent, thinking. Akefia was sure he saw his face get a shade or two redder. "We… are back to normal. We hang out, we talk and text, we play video games and dick around together."_

_Akefia nodded, but Marik wasn't finished. "But at the same time… I want to have sex again. Even if it's just once. To see what it's like. Maybe I'm being an idiot, maybe I don't want to be with you like that at all and I'm misinterpreting something. Maybe you'd like it too if we did it and you're just denying it vehemently because you're so accustomed to thinking of yourself as 'straight'." He glanced at him again. "…Just once. Then we can see what happens after that."_

"_Marik…" Akefia started, but lost his nerve. He bit his lip, rethinking his words as he saw Marik shift again. "I don't know if I can do that."_

"_Please, Akefia. I don't want us to be this awkward forever. If it doesn't work out, I'll drop it, and you'll never hear from me on the subject again."_

'_That wouldn't change the fact that we'd __done it__,' Akefia thought almost bitterly._

"_We'll… see, Marik, okay? We'll see."_

They talked for several minutes after that about what that would entail, how the situations would go, but Akefia no longer cared to remember. He stared at the message on his phone. Was he ready to see him again, even if they didn't do anything? Could he handle that?

His phone buzzed again. "We can just play video games, you know."

Sighing, he nodded to himself. He was over thinking things. Marik was still Marik, his best friend in the world. That wasn't something you just throw away.

"See you at seven."

**[[A/N: ***foetid: The British spelling of 'fetid', meaning 'extremely unpleasant smelling'.

My classes now yield a lot of free time; I should be updating more frequently!**]]**


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was just starting to set. Frowning to himself, Akefia's lavender eyes were staring vacantly out the window open above his kitchen sink. Currently, he was sitting at his table, a mug of warm tea steaming in front of him, untouched. He wasn't even aware of his surroundings. The cheerful spritzing sound of a neighbor's sprinkler system whirring, the beautiful colours splattered across the sky like an artist's palate, the smell of apricot and peach tea wafting temptingly up to his nose, all might as well have been white noise, grey, and nothingness for all he noticed.

It was 7.00. Marik was due at any moment. And though he had promised they would just play videogames, just hang out as they always had done, Akefia was skeptical. What all happened between them wasn't something you could just grin about and get on with your life. He wondered if Marik wasn't taking Akefia's devotion to their relationship for granted.

Were it anyone else in the world, Akefia would have said 'no'. He would have not wanted to hang out, not wanted to be near him, let alone agree to spend an evening with a man who wanted to jump his bones. A _man. _He almost shivered thinking about it. That was not what he was.

But… It was _Marik. _Marik was the most important thing in his life. Thinking of his life without the eccentric blonde made his heart sink into his stomach. Without him, he would most certainly stare at the walls – like he was doing now – almost all the time. Work, walls, sex, walls. White, black, white, black, white noise, black skies. He would sit at the diner with a throbbing headache, eating by himself, glancing up whenever the doors flung open only to look away almost sadly when it was just an over-enthusiastic breakfast eater. Without the companionship and spontaneity of his friend, things would feel empty. Life a little colder.

But he was not gay.

No way did he want to – … His eyebrows pulled together as his cloudy mind once again pulled up the dreg memories he fought to drown and muddle. Images and sounds flashed in succession, a few not having anything to do with the party. His tattoos, his hair when it was wet, his dark, almost sadistic grin, stretches, his imposing figure when he wore those armbands and that cape, sun beaming down on his golden hair and bronze skin, the wind rustling his hair and cape just right –

Egh. No. This was his friend. Of course he would think of him somewhat admiringly. Though why he looked back on that (damn good) blowjob, now that was a mystery. They had looked each other in the eye during foreplay, (foreplay!) didn't they. Eye contact neither broke. He didn't even remember feeling embarrassed or anxious when they looked at each other as Marik tore open his pants. No, he remembered… grinning. He remembered liking it. He remembered––

With a flare of anger, he realized blood had started shifting south while he had been thinking. Growling, and without much thought, he swung his hand through the air, sending his still steaming mug soaring. A loud sound of breaking porcelain rang through the house, putting an abrupt pause on Akefia's seething. The tea was splattered everywhere, his favourite mug ruined.

Glowering and murmuring curses, he got up, forcefully grabbing a rag and dropping down to start mopping the mess up.

"Uh…" a voice hesitantly interjected from the doorway to the kitchen. "… Need some help, there."

Shooting him a glare – how long had he been there? – Akefia just hurled a rag at his face, returning to his work.

Blinking and pulling the once-blue rag from his face, Marik looked at the scene. He had heard the crash from outside the door he had been about to open, causing him to hurry inside with concern as opposed to the hesitant grin he had planned on. Finding Akefia in the kitchen and the mug shards on the floor, he could only assume he had hurled his drink at the wall. This boded well for the evening…

"… Why are you throwing kitchen utensils," he asked, dropping down to help him clean up the warm tea.

"Was an accident," Akefia growled, aggressively mopping.

"Doesn't _look_ like an accident." Marik's purple eyes were quite firmly locked on the floor.

"Well you're an idiot. I tripped and it broke. End of story." Glowering, he threw the rag in the sink, picking up the delicate shards with his back to the other.

Feeling uncomfortable, Marik kept cleaning the sopping mess, clearing his throat after a few moments. "Er… Why don't I come back another time, mm? You… look like you could use some alone time."

"No," came the other's response, less curt than before. He dumped the shards in the bin, sighing and rubbing his face as he turned and leaned on the countertop. "No. I apologize for snapping."

"…" Rather than comfort him, this only served to make Marik more uncomfortable. "…Right." The mess now mostly clean, Marik set the rag in the sink and settled himself leaning on a wall as far from Akefia as he could be. He had decided to let Akefia determine how close he wanted him, if at all. He hated doing it – a _lot _– but he would rather be far away and talking rather than close and awkward. At the thought of this balancing act he'd got himself into, his eyes suddenly felt very tired.

Looking at the wall and seeming to be somewhere else, Akefia abruptly pushed himself to stand straight, rubbing his hands together. "So! Video games. Yes. Let's go do that. Do you want food? I'll bring pretzels. And soda. Soda too. Yes."

Marik just stared, watching him bumble around for words and excuses to do something. Biting back a sigh, Marik pushed himself up as well and wordlessly walked the familiar (though less so now) route to the other's couch, plopping down at one end and sitting cross-legged on the squishy cushions.

Two minutes of awkwardly looking at the system (that appeared not to have been touched since the last time he was over) later, Akefia came back in, setting down two sodas and a bowl of pretzels on the middle cushion. "What do you want to play," he asked, walking almost stiffly over to the set-up and opening his drawer for the games he owned.

"Eh…" He was really not feeling much like playing a game right now. But hey, maybe this would loosen them both up. "… Bioshock, I think."

Akefia snorted. "Ah, Bioshock… The game with a plot you can ignore so you can kill people with a giant drill, set them on fire, and suck the souls out of little girls. You have such charming tastes…" His lips twitched to a smirk, selecting the game.

"Hey now. You plunge your hand into little girls' stomachs and take out a slug that you eat. Not suck their souls out. That's just gross," Marik half-grinned as well, a touch of warmness in his heart at the brief flash of their usual banter he had so missed.

Sniggering, Akefia put the disc in, less tense than before.

Two and a half hours passed, in which the two switched off playing, each heckling and mocking the other. The sodas were gone and the pretzels not touched (neither really cared for them, why Akefia brought them out, he was unsure,) as they entered level four. Marik glanced at his watch.

"Shit son, it's nearly nine thirty," he hummed, eyebrows rising. "Look at that."

"Really?" Akefia's eyebrows rose slightly as well. "Doesn't feel that long."

"Nah…" Shaking his head, Marik frowned, tapping his can of soda with his finger. "You don't have work tomorrow, do you?"

"… Marik, it's Saturday." Akefia rolled his eyes, half-smirking.

"… Is it?" Blinking, Marik shrugged. "I tend to lose track, I suppose. Okay then. How much longer you want me here?"

"Long as you want," he answered, as though this was obvious.

"…" As much as Marik loved their old vibe back, the give and take and jokingly snide remarks, he still knew that just wasn't enough for him, now. Not when he'd been given a taste of something else. And he wanted another taste.

Picking up the cans and the bowl, Marik set them on the floor, scooting himself to sit in the middle seat. Akefia sat up a bit taller, but didn't flinch away. "… What are you doing."

"Sitting," he answered like a smartass, giving him an obdurate look. "Is that a crime?"

"…." Akefia gave him a pointed look.

"…" Sighing, Marik took the controller and set it on the coffee table, turning to look at him. "… Can we talk now."

Akefia groaned. "Marik, must we? We had done so well there, just being friends. Can't we just forget this whole incident and move on with our lives?"

A muscle on Marik's back twitched. "You know as well as I that we can't. Not until this is settled once and for all, anyway."

"Until _what _is settled." Glaring now, Akefia folded his arms across his chest. A sign he was not open to conversation.

"_This. _This _stuff_ between us." Marik glared right back.

"Tch. That you not so secretly want to recreate that night? I already told you, I can't do that."

"I don't want to recreate that night," he scowled, hands in his lap. "I was allowed a glimpse at something, and I want to know what that something is. I don't even know if I'll like it."

"Oh please," Akefia rolled his eyes. "I remember bits of that night. You were _into it._"

"So were you. And here you are, ardently denying it just because I don't have breasts." Marik glowered. "Who's to say I wasn't drunk on the lights, music, and alien circumstances? That I'm not just imagining things?"

"That's insulting. Even if you were, sexual preference doesn't fly out the window just because of that. If you're bi or gay or whatever now, that's fine, bully for you, but I am not."

"Ugh, you're not getting this," Marik groaned in frustration, cracking his knuckles. "What is making this so difficult and confusing is that I'm _not. _I don't like men. I don't want to sleep with men. I want _you._ Not men in general, just the one. That's why I can't just cut my losses and move on from this; I want to know why, what this is."

"…It doesn't work like that," Akefia growled, looking at the wall now. That sounded all too familiar.

"Says who! Why is it so hard to believe that one can be attracted to a person, rather than a gender? I'm not gay; you are the only man I fucking want and that's why this is so confusing!"

Everything Marik was saying echoed in what Akefia had been feeling. He hadn't put words to it, hadn't figured out how to put it like Marik had, but he felt it. As he spoke, he identified with what he was saying more and more. And he hated him for it.

"…. And so what happens if I say no to this."

Marik looked at him with a hard glare, heart speeding up in his chest. "… Then we can't be friends. I can't forget this. I can't ignore it. The only way this works out where we are 100% back to normal is if we do it, and neither of us like it. Fine. Back to normal. If we do it and you don't like it, … I don't know if I could stay. I know I said I'd never bring it up again, but honestly, I don't think I could handle that. The other two options are all or nothing. Either you say no and I leave here and we never speak to each other again, or you say yes and we both like it. We can decide what to do from there if that is the case. But if you tell me 'no' right now, I'm leaving, and that's the end of us being friends." There of course was also the possibility of Akefia liking it and Marik not, but that was in no large likelihood.

Akefia's heart sank involuntarily at envisioning the scenario of him leaving, and anger flared inside of him at his heart sinking. He hated this. Hated every aspect of it. He hated the idea of losing Marik. He hated the idea of giving in to such a ludicrous request on the basis of trying to keep his friend. He hated feeling trapped, because even if he did this, Marik would expect more, or if they went back to normal, they'd both live with the knowledge that they'd done this! Arguments he'd used over and over floated in his mind, his internal hate burning inside of him, blood rushing to his face, sounding in his ears…

Marik was starting to get anxious, just watching him glare at the wall. He wasn't hearing 'yes'. Adrenaline starting to kick in at the realization that this might be the last time he saw his friend; he reluctantly started to get up after several minutes. "I'll take that silence as a 'no'…" Standing awkwardly, Marik shoved his hands in his pockets. "Well, I guess, er…"

Growling loudly and unexpectedly, Akefia rocketed up to stand, hand roughly grabbing Marik's shirt. "Did I say you could get up."

Marik blinked. "Er—"

But before he could answer, Akefia shoved him violently back onto the couch, and straddled his waist. Marik bounced as his back hit the sofa, looking up at the other with wide, almost frightened eyes at the sudden aggression. "Akef–?"

"**Shut up.**"

Growling again with that hate and anger and confusion inside of him, his hand grabbed Marik by the chin none-too-gently. "Listen to me. You will do as I say, when I say. If I say 'stop', you will stop. It is against my better judgment that we are doing this, so count yourself well lucky."

Marik's heart all but stopped as the words were hissed at his face. Were they really–?

His unfinished question was answered as Akefia's hand let go of his chin to slip into his hair, crushing their lips together once more.

Electricity shot through his body at the sudden rough kiss, his spine arching upward against his will as though he really were electrocuted. Eyes open and fixed on the man so intently squeezing his own eyes shut, Marik was frozen.

Not moving, it took a few seconds before Akefia wrenched back away from him, glowering with all the force he could muster, leaning up a few inches above him. "_What_," he hissed, eyes burning.

Marik didn't answer. Hesitation clearly shone in his eyes as he darted them to the side, mind quickly rethinking what it was he had suggested. More anger flared in Akefia at these second thoughts showing through those damned purple eyes, and before he knew what he was doing, a hand lifted and slapped him hard across the face.

"–!" Hand flying to cover the blossoming red mark on his tan face, Marik glared up at him, mouth opening to demand what the fuck his problem was, but before he could Akefia cut him off.

"**No.** You wanted this. Me. You asked –– _begged _me for this. Now fucking _take it._" Growling, eyes narrowed in that same internal hate, Akefia's voice had a biting edge in it Marik had never heard before. It was… rather scary.

And sexy.

A similar kind of hate of his own started burning inside of Marik, his eyes continuing to narrow and stare at Akefia for just a moment. He hated the same things Akefia did. Himself, his feelings he couldn't banish, how absurd all of this was – he let that hatred fuel him. Even as his lips twitched and pulled back to reveal a dark grin, he had to repress a shiver. Hate sex. Their first real sex and it was going to be violent, rough, and probably bloody. _Perfect._

Reaching up with steady hands, Marik tightly grasped Akefia's face in his hands and yanked him down for another rough kiss, this time putting his entire being into it. Growling in approval, Akefia's hands dug into the couch at either side of Marik's shoulders as he viciously kissed him back, both pairs of violet eyes screwing shut.

Marik's mind was a paradox. He felt everything and nothing all at once. Inside he was surging, euphoric happiness and anxiety, dread and joy, all swirled around inside of him, seeming to fill him completely up on the inside. At the same time, his mind was a blank slate, unable to hone in on any one of these emotions or feelings. All he was capable of doing was hold tight to Akefia's face and kissing him as intently as he could manage in his given state, his breathing already off.

Akefia was in a similar position. Much better at forcing his body to move against the thunder inside of him than Marik, he sat back against the other's thighs to allow himself the use of his hands. Free, they sprawled out across Marik's flat chest, pressing into the flesh. Accustomed to breasts and toying with them, the hands hesitated at the flatness, but pushed themselves forward to roughly explore the new terrain.

Marik's breath hitched in the kiss as the hands roamed his body through his shirt, muscles shifting beneath his fingers. He was unused to being in such a submissive position, and it would have bothered him more if Akefia weren't so inherently good at what he was doing. Somehow, he managed to find a sensitive spot on the upper part of one of his pectorals he himself didn't even know about.

Blood started pumping downward in both males, breathing becoming accelerated and drowning out the subtle sounds the menu screen made of the game they had forgotten to turn off. Akefia's nails raked Marik's chest to a cut-off groan from the latter, the kiss finally being broken as both parties gasped for air.

Looking at each other, the two exchanged identical dark grins, chests rising and falling with breath. Marik's hands fell from Akefia's face to drape over the arm of the couch his head was pressing into, squirming beneath him. "Nnn," he sighed, eyes studying his friend carefully. "I hadn't accounted for not being on top."

Akefia only flashed that grin again, hips assertively pressing themselves into Marik's thighs, which twitched (blood jolting south). Marik grinned back and shook his head. "You misunderstand," he sighed, shifting to sit upright as Akefia's grin slipped. "I'm not giving in to that willingly."

Before Akefia could retort, Marik grasped his shoulders tightly and forced him backward, shifting their legs both at once to pin him down on the couch. Immediately growling, lip curling, Akefia glared up at him, struggling against his surprisingly strong hold.

"Now, now," Marik crooned, keeping him back. "Do as you did last time. Just give in to the sensations of it. Don't concentrate too much on it, " he purred, hovering above his lips and pressing his own to his cheek almost gently.

"Ghnh, Marik, must y––"

His protest was cut off as Marik grinned widely, plunging his face into the other's neck, sharply biting him in the same pleasure spot he remembered from the last time. Unable to help himself, Akefia let out a low moan, hand going to roughly entangle itself into the wild blond hair so close to his face. Eyes shutting and head tilting backward to give the other more room, Akefia locked on to that phrase: 'just give in to the sensations of it.'

Doing so, he was more than happy to let Marik stay buried in his neck, those teeth biting in to his flesh and sucking at the marks left there perfectly. He was by no means a masochist, but the sharp sting of a bite really got his blood flowing. And Marik was content to abuse this to no end.

Although he couldn't see the other, he could picture what they were doing all too well. His hand tightly fisting his hair, nonverbally telling him _'Oh, god, do not stop,'_, his head tilted far back, offering it up to him, his back even squirming underneath the weight of his body. Marik shivered again.

The blonde's hands traced and danced down the sides of Akefia's body, tracing and just barely making his presence known. The other growled at this, wanting more solid touches, but Marik ignored him. Sharply nipping him playfully, Marik's hands found his hips and his legs, splaying themselves across the thick muscles through the dense denim fabric. Sliding along from hipbones to kneecap, Marik's hands pressed into the upper section and sides of the muscles, generating what he knew to be a very pleasant – albeit craving – feeling.

Sure enough, the muscles twitched underneath his hands as Akefia shifted from the unfamiliar touch. Unfamiliar, but not unwelcome.

"Fuck," he managed, strained and hoarse. His hand lightly yanked on Marik's hair.

Grinning to himself, Marik stopped his hands and leaned up, opening his mouth to speak – but he was directed back down with a yank to his head.

"No," Akefia interjected, the hand in the blonde hair forcing Marik to stay where he was. "More…"

Marik would have been lying to himself if he said that he expected Akefia to actually take his 'don't concentrate too much on it' to heart. And even he wasn't so egotistical to think that ten minutes of making out and light, rounding-second-base touches was enough to completely change the other's views on homoeroticism. Still, though his motives were unclear, the meaning was completely inconsequential to him. As long as he wanted it, Marik would oblige.

Resuming his actions, Marik's hands massaged and rubbed the other's thigh muscles, mouth busy in sucking a reddening section of his neck. Soon growing bored of the repetition of this and wanting more from Akefia, his hands instead grasped his hips, fingertips slipping underneath the shirt that had started to ride up his body.

Akefia sucked in breath sharply, but otherwise did nothing. Taking this as a good sign, Marik continued, pressing his warms hands onto and further up the other's toned body, taking the shirt with him as he went.

"M-mm…" Akefia hummed, stretching his torso with the hands and more intently shoved Marik's face into his throat. "Nn- Bite me. More," he rasped. His speech seemed to decrease to the level of primal grunts and commands; was he so far gone?

Indulging him, Marik's teeth sharply bit into the warm flesh once more, his hands pressing into his lower abdomen teasingly. In reward, he was greeted with a gravelly moan, hips tilting upward into Marik's body seemingly of their own will.

Feeling a sudden thud to his groin, it was all he could do not to groan back as he pushed himself back up, leaning over Akefia on all fours.

"… Well shit," he murmured with a half-grin on his lips, breathing off.

The other just looked up at him with smouldering eyes, his hips tilting again.

Looking down at him in this new sexual light, Akefia was quite a sight. Even the scar on his face was absolutely electrifying. Marik just wanted it all more and more.

"… Are you comfortable enough with this yet to – ah, – move to a different location?" Marik hinted, as he became aware of just how much tighter his pants were now than when they were simply playing video games on the couch.

In the blink of an eye, Akefia changed from being content-looking and focused on calming himself down, to the anger that had been in his eyes earlier. Shoving Marik off of him, he stood, his shoulders tense. For one paralyzing moment he thought he was about to be thrown out of his house.

Grasping Marik by his shirt, Akefia didn't even look at him as he yanked him to his feet and started tugging. Heart sinking, Marik waited for the turn to the front door – that didn't come. Instead they turned down the cramped hallway to the left. The one that led to Akefia's bedroom.

Heart pounding in his chest again, Marik sped up in following him; once again surprised his suggestion was met with such earnestly.

Akefia all but threw him inside of his room and shut the door behind them, turning to look at him so his hair whipped about his face in the dull light from a single lamp.

"Lose the shirt. Get on the bed."

Simple commands. Mechanically, Marik stripped his shirt off over his head and threw it to the floor, immediately hopping onto the bed and sitting upright on it, looking at his friend expectantly. Face hidden by shadow, Akefia stared at him for several moments, before his t-shirt was also cast aside to the floor.

He just stood there. One looked at the other, just staring. After several moments of direct eye contact – which at first was rather nice – Marik started to grow uneasy. "Akefia…" he ventured, tilting his head slightly, frowning. "Don't over-think this…"

"**Shut up.**"

Lip curling, the first man growled, cracking his neck. He had been thinking, yes, but not of how he was beginning to feel reluctant towards the situation, as Marik thought. No, he was simply gathering together all of his repressed attraction to stuff into his nerve, steeling himself for the foreign. He knew what he wanted to do to the other, knew what he had to do to elicit the reactions he wanted. But to do so, he would have to do things that of course threw into relief the notion that he was having homoerotic sex. He still wasn't fully comfortable with that. But as his mind cast backward for the moan he so wanted to hear, he knew he could do it.

Closing the gap between himself and the bed in two long strides, Akefia kept going in his momentum onto the bed, flying at the other and cupping his neck with one hand, lips forcefully reattaching to his, the other hand immediately descending to harshly grope the front of his pants.

"Ahn-!" Gasping from the suddenness of the attack, Marik fell back with him, back arching backward as his hips instinctively pushed upward into the hand and his face pushed up into Akefia's.

That moan he wanted to hear was granted to him as his palm furiously rubbed at the hardening bulge in the front of his dear friend's pants, the sound permeating throughout his entire body. Growling his approval, Akefia broke their bruising kiss to lean up, savagely grinning down at Marik.

Face flushed, the blonde looked every part the uke he had fought not to become in the sudden onslaught of pleasure. His hair more mussed than usual, lips parted, eyes half lidded, chest rising and falling in uneven rhythms; it was so different from how he usually looked – but a difference welcomed with open arms.

"I can make you melt from my touch so easily…" he murmured half to himself, hand slowing as his eyes raked the other's face, memorizing it.

But all at once, Marik recovered himself enough to curl his lip, the glimpse of true wanton pleasure gone as soon as it came. Lifting a hand to rub his lips with the back of his hands, Marik's eyes fixed on Akefia's, burning.

"Mnn… Anyone would at such,… intensity…" he mused, still breathless. "…. Get… Get off me."

Quirking an eyebrow, Akefia harshly groped him again, earning a clearly involuntary 'Ah!' from Marik. "And why would I do that."

It took him another moment or two to regain his breath. "…. Because…" Reaching down, his own hand squeezed the lump in Akefia's pants, his lips twitching as the other's eyes widened. "… This is a two-way street."

Shoving him off, Marik seemed to regain enough sense of himself to properly move. Switching their positions in that moment of Akefia's weakness was easy, as was raking his nails down the tan chest beneath him. Moans less inhibited than in Marik, Akefia let one free from his throat, chest arching up into the hands that ghosted down his body.

"Heheh…." Leaning down, Marik's abnormally long tongue unfurled from his mouth, tracing down the center of his chest, tracing the muscles. As he did this, his hands busied themselves with unfastening the belt, button, and zipper of Akefia's jeans, then moving on to his own as he reached the abdominal muscles.

Akefia gasped and groaned as Marik hit sensitive spots or accidentally brushed against him, his hands tightly grasping the bed beneath him, twitching around. Music to Marik's ears.

"This is something," he murmured breathily, yanking away both of their jeans and clawing at the twin sets of boxers to release the fully erect and straining cocks from the fabric, "That cannot be done with a woman. Not the same, at least…"

Once they were free, he looked Akefia in the eye and grinned a sort of hateful grin, nails digging into his pectoral muscles as his hips lowered to rub their crotches together.

Growling out another moan, Akefia's eyes slid shut as his hips did what they wanted to do, namely, rub intently up into Marik. The latter hissed and huffed out a moan disguised as a sigh, scratching his chest and leaving angry red marks behind him.

"I've… been looking at things online," Marik breathed in between rubs, his eyelids fluttering. "How… to do some stuff. Just in… case you said yes," he heh'd, tilting his head to his own shoulder.

"Nnngh…" Akefia growled in response, unable to really form words by now. Marik took that to mean 'like what'.

"You're going to have to trust me," he prefaced, slowing their movements (to Akefia's apparent displeasure by the way his hips still searched upward) to make his point clear. "Will you?"

"Of course," came the irritated, but sincere answer, eyes opening to look into Marik's.

"…" A moment Marik would explore later. But for now, he lifted one of his hands and pressed two fingers to Akefia's lips. "… I need you to suck on these. A lot of saliva," he clarified, shifting off of him to kick his pants and undergarments off.

Akefia didn't answer, but rather opened his mouth to accept the digits (though he thought the ritual odd, he didn't question it). Taking them in, his eyes shut as his tongue slowly slid around them, slicking them, his lips wrapping and rewrapping around them.

Eyes closed, Marik just let him do this for a moment, before he remembered what he was going to do. Rewarding him, he wrapped his hand around Akefia's length at the base, running up and down in a series of short, but skillful pumps.

Akefia moaned around the fingers, stalling and tilting his hips up. Deeming them good enough, Marik took back his fingers, removing his hand from him as well after another few strokes (just for the delicious way he nonverbally begged for more, he wanted to commit that to memory).

"Akefia," he crooned, now positioned above him with three of his limbs, the third lifting to show him. Lavender eyes blinked open to clarity, focusing in on him. "I had to look up how to do this for anything other than masturbation," he murmured, leaning up and spreading his legs somewhat. "Pay attention, because if we ever do this again, you're doing it…"

Before Akefia could so much as pull his eyebrows together in confusion or protest, Marik slipped his hand behind his back and bit his lip, making a small 'mnn' noise. Akefia's eyes widened, all at once realizing what was happening.

"…Fuck."

Eyes unsure whether to watch his face or crane to see his hand, Akefia was all too aware of how much he seemed to _ache _in his nether regions, how badly he needed – something. Reaching down, he mechanically stroked himself, needing some sort of gratification.

Marik's eyes closed as his fingers set to their invisible work, slipping inside of himself and pushing at his inner walls, stretching them, readying them for what he knew would be both overwhelmingly painful and overwhelmingly pleasurable. Rewarding himself for the effort (and the feeling of being so overtly on display that kept creeping up in the back of his mind,) his fingers found and pushed at his prostate. Mouth falling open, he groaned unrestrainedly, back arching backwards from the sudden pleasure spike.

"…. Nnngh, for god sake, hurry up," Akefia growled, hand on himself speeding up at this so unashamed and unapologetic display of ecstasy.

Ignoring him, (however hot that command was,) Marik pulled back from himself when he was sure he would be prepared. Not only would this be his first time with male on male intercourse, but it was with _Akefia._ Eyes straying to the monster that would soon be plunging inside of him, he hesitated and debated going back and preparing himself still yet further. This was going to **hurt.** But still, it was worth it. The overwhelming _need _for Akefia to be inside of him was all consuming – a fact. He needed this. Needed him.

Panting, Marik drew back, looking down at him with the same burning eyes as before. The two stared at each other, Akefia's hand stilling. "…."

"… Well. Are you going to fuck me or not?" Marik asked, a half-grin spreading on his features.

Grinning back, Akefia swapped them yet again, pinning Marik down and forcing his legs apart with his own. "Oh," he hummed, tilting the other's hips, "I most _definitely _am."

Marik shivered.

Looking down, Akefia pressed his tip to Marik's entrance, glancing up for an 'okay' before he officially started pushing forward. Marik's eyes were shut tight in concentration, as – through the racing heart, the shallow breath, the mounting anticipation and oncoming dread – he forced himself to relax. A difficult feat, but one he was trying to overcome none the less. "G…. give me a minute," he breathed, his shoulders tight.

"…" A touch of sympathy peeking through his lust, Akefia leaned down and pressed their lips together again, less demanding than the other, harsher kisses. This was a kiss of comfort, a slower, more sensual kiss. A kiss that told him 'it's okay'.

This more than anything else relaxed him, and after a few moments, he broke away to nod. "…. Nnngh, fucking get _inside me _already…" he groaned, his eyebrows steeping upward.

Needing no more 'okay' than that, Akefia's eyes fell to their hips, and pushed forward. It was incredible. Tighter than a female and a virgin to boot, Marik felt rapturous around him. The more of him he got, the more he wanted, and the more it took him to keep from forcefully shoving forward.

Contrary-wise, for Marik, the more of Akefia inside of him he got, the more he prayed there would be no more. It was alien, uncomfortable, painful. Back muscles tightening, Marik lifted his shaky arms and wrapped them around the other, hands digging into the powerful back above him. "Nnnnngh…"

Akefia glanced back up, mostly inside of him, and frowned. "….Are you.. okay?" he asked, breathlessly.

Marik only shakily shook his head. "Are – … is that all."

"…" Pushing forward the last little bit, he stopped. "….Yeah."

Taking a shuddering breath, Marik breathed out a near silent: '…Wait…'

It was excruciating to stop moving, but Akefia did it. As much as he seared inside from unfulfilled desire, if it would hurt Marik, there was no way he would do it until he was told he was all right. A philosophy that would bite him in the ass sometimes – like now – it was nonetheless infallible. He endured it.

It seemed like years until Marik nodded, giving him the go-ahead to start moving again. Pressing another, briefer kiss to his lips, Akefia wished him all the painlessness possible, but he was eternally thankful he could move once again.

It was slow going, pulling back and thrusting forward at a snail's pace. But every time he pushed all the way forward, Marik would let out a small noise. Whether it was in pain or pleasure, he didn't know, so he stayed slow.

"…. Ghh… Akefia- faster, more, come on," Marik's eyes opened and focused on him, letting his annoyance show through. "I'm not an egg. I'll tell you if it's too much, just –– Ahh-!"

In retribution for the overt insult, Akefia thrust forward more forcefully, growling in his throat again. Marik's head fell back and his back arched up, nails digging into his back again. "Ah- Yes, more of that—" he gasped, hips rocking slightly. There was the pleasure he wanted.

Hands tightly grasping Marik's hips, Akefia's eyes focused down on their connecting bodies, somehow even more turned on by the so very concrete image of the two of them meeting like that, so completely. Groaning, he struck up a much more forceful and intense rhythm, yanking back and slamming forth.

"Agghh…" Marik moaned, his toes curling out of sight and his hips twisting and turning in Akefia's strong grip, trying his best to direct him inside of him until BAM, Akefia struck the pleasure center head-on.

"Ak_eee_fia-!" Marik gasped loudly, hips bucking back into him, entire body electrified by the sudden, intense feeling of pure euphoria. "Yes! More!"

Akefia in turn moaned at this absolutely irresistible reaction to an unintentional movement, and repeated himself, hitting the spot a second, third, fourth, and fifth time. Each time Marik moaned loudly and uncontrolled, sometimes swears, sometimes his name, sometimes nonsense noises. Akefia couldn't get enough.

"Nnn, _Marik…_" he moaned back, leaning down to press his face into Marik's warm throat, the other's hands sliding instinctively up into the tangle of white hair and holding him there.

Several minutes of the rough sex passed before Akefia had enough sense to reach around and grasp Marik's neglected member, harshly pumping him in time to the intense rhythm.

"Oh–!"

Marik yanked suddenly at Akefia's hair, needily. He was nearing the edge now, and with the extra stimulation, it wouldn't be long now. "Akefia…" he groaned, half in ecstasy, half for his attention. "…Bite me."

Only capable enough in his mindless self-indulgence to understand the command after a few moments, Akefia quite willingly acquiesced, sharp teeth digging in to the warm flesh at his lips.

And that was enough. The thrusts to his prostate, the pumps to his cock, the moans he craved, and now the bite, it was enough. With an arch nearly backbreaking and a scream loud enough to wake a neighbor, Marik let himself go, splattering both of their chests with his release.

As his orgasm overwhelmed him, his voice calling out swears and Akefia's name, the muscles inside of him clamped down on Akefia, stimulating him still yet further as well. Caught up in the wave emanating from Marik, it was all too easy to let himself get swept away in it as well, his own orgasm starting from deep inside of him, growing tenser and tenser as Marik's moans died off, and finally he snapped.

Silent as he came, Akefia buried his face still yet further into Marik's flesh, his hips bucking repeatedly into him as his own equally intense wave crashed inside of him, his body violently twitching.

Soon there after, Akefia collapsed on top of Marik, both of them breathing heavily. Akefia didn't even remember to pull out.

Minutes ticked by as they both reeled in their highs, unwilling to come back to reality. It was… so good. So worth the strange feelings and odd awkward moments between them. They both felt the warmness of contentment spread over them like melted butter, savouring the delights of realized desires.

After quite awhile, Akefia recovered himself enough to realize he needed to break away from Marik. Pulling out with a groan, he looked down at them, his eyes suddenly widening and sobering up at what he saw.

"Marik—" He interjected, the other ignoring him as he clung to his glow. "Marik, you're bleeding."

Sighing, Marik shifted, pushing himself to sit up halfway. "Wha…?"

"You're bleeding. There's blood coming out of you. Did I hurt you that badly?" Frowning, he looked at him with concern, the anger and hate completely drained out of him.

Marik just stretched, squirming his hips. "Mm…. Yes 'n no…" Yawning, he flopped back onto his back, stretching out naked on the bed. "It hurt a lot at first, but then I didn't notice."

Not convinced, Akefia eyed him anxiously. "… At least put your boxers back on, that'll stop it from spreading."

Marik chuckled. "Mnn, I'm bleeding from sex, and you're fretting. Just enjoy the warm, eh?" He nevertheless accepted the boxers tossed at his head and slipped them back on.

"Nn, I'm suddenly really tired…" Marik rolled onto his side on the Queen bed, burying his face in the soft comforter. "'s alright 'f I crash 'ere, yeah? Thanks…" he murmured, not listening to the answer, making himself comfortable and drifting off easily.

"…. Go right ahead," Akefia said for no one's benefit but his own, a smirk tugging at his lips as he too pulled on his boxers.

Was it fondness that warmed his heart as he looked at his tired friend? Whatever it was, he found himself glad. Glad they partook in such a strange activity, and glad they were friends again. In the morning he was sure to have much more conflicting and irreconcilable feelings on the issue, but for now, he was glad.

Lying beside Marik, he too rolled on his side facing away from him, and clutched a pillow to his chest. It was only as his heavy eyes drifted closed that he noticed his phone. Picking it up, he saw he had three missed messages from Bakura.

Grinning, he put the phone back down.

Another problem for another day, he mused, slipping into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, do you want to talk, or?"

Akefia shrugged, stretching out in his large bed, rubbing the sleep from his face. They had just woken up, and it was already about one in the afternoon. They must have exhausted themselves quite substantially.

"I suppose we should."

Marik was lying on his side next to him, head propped up with an elbow, palm on his head. Already wild hair was even more unruly, both from the previous night and the tossing and turning in his sleep that followed. He looked more lion than human.

"Mm," he sighed, eyes on his friend. A smirk tugged at his lips as the other yawned hugely, joints popping as he stretched. It was very nice, not feeling awkward. Very, very nice. For now, he kept thoughts out, just focused on enjoying another day, his first non-awkward day in weeks.

"Sleep alright," Akefia asked, rolling onto his stomach and burying his face in a pillow, as though clinging to sleep itself. Marik sniggered.

"Yeah." Humming, Marik reached behind him to rub his own lower back. He felt rather battered, but nothing he couldn't deal with. "Fell right to sleep. You weren't up after I was, were you?"

"Nope. Out like a light," the talking mass of white hair and pillow yawned back at him.

Shaking his head fondly, Marik hoisted himself up and scooped up his clothing in his arms, padding lightly over to the bathroom attached to Akefia's bedroom. Seeing his face in the mirror, he stifled a chuckle. He really needed a comb.

Using his fingers as a substitute, he yanked them through the mat of hair atop his head, dislodging major tangles and restoring a semblance of order to his hectic appearance. His eyes were sort of sunken in from sleep as well, but that would go away in a half an hour or so, not much to be done for that.

Glancing down at his lower regions to check if there was any damage proved source for more stifled laughter. Around his hips were large, purple bruises in the shape of Akefia's fingers. He must have been grasping onto him pretty tightly to bruise him this badly. Akefia would have one of two reactions to this, he mused, tugging on his cargos again. Either he would find it extremely amusing, or he would fret over having hurt him. Rolling his eyes, he decided it would probably be the latter, and thus resolved not to tell him.

Shrugging his tank-top on over his cold chest, he took a last look at himself, desperately wishing for a toothbrush, and returned to the bedroom.

Akefia hadn't moved. He was still in the same position as before, buried completely into the bed.

"Are you getting up sometime today, lazyass?"

The irony was lost on him.

Akefia groaned, shaking his head 'no'. Shrugging, Marik took this to mean he was trying to osmosis into the bed, and took the opportunity to flop on top of him.

"Nngh-!" Akefia groaned in protest, squirming. "Geddoffme."

"No~" Marik grinned, wiggling and trying to force himself to become heavier.

Whining still further, Akefia clutched the pillow even closer to himself, willing him away. Of course this failed, Marik was still bouncing away on top of him, and so reluctantly, Akefia tossed the pillow away, pushing himself up with enough force to make Marik tumble away.

"Oof. Finally given in to the afternoon's call to wake the fuck up, have you." Marik sniggered, stretching out himself. Akefia only grumbled.

Ruffling his white hair, the man glanced over at his friend, the previous night flooding back to him in bits and pieces at first, now crashed over him as he recalled nearly every detail.

He felt the strange urges to yank Marik into his arms in a tight hug, and to shower quite well.

Humming, he rubbed his eyes. "So what do you want to do now," he asked, offhanded and casual.

"Well, I don't care what time it is, I want breakfast food. A waffle sounds really good. Or maybe a crepe. No I don't care it's French so it's fine that it's girlie sounding."

Akefia rolled his eyes. "Not literally."

"Oh. Oh you mean in general. I knew that," Marik looked up at him thoughtfully. He would have been much more anxious about the whole matter of discussing 'what now', but he was pretty confident he knew Akefia's feelings. Reluctant enjoyment. He could deal with that, the reluctance would die away after awhile.

"Well, I forced you into this, did I not? It's your move," he hummed, stating this as though it were obvious and not something that made his stomach tie in knots if he thought about it too hard.

Akefia sighed, annoyed his friend did not seem too vocal on the subject. Loathe though he was to make their situation awkward again, it would only keep becoming so if they didn't set boundaries, limitations, do's and do not's.

But frankly, he wasn't feeling up to it either. Not yet, anyway. To postpone the conversation and simultaneously elongate the time he had with his friend, Akefia settled on a suggestion he felt would solve both problems. "… Let's get breakfast, then."

"Wait what?" Marik blinked up at him, eyebrows rising. "Really?"

"Sure. I'm paying, let's go." He shrugged, pushing himself out of bed to go grope for clothes in his chest of drawers.

Now quite contented, Marik wriggled up himself, grinning as he sauntered to the door. "I'll wait for you in the living room, don't take awhile, I'm starving here~" he teased, opening, sliding through, and shutting the door before Akefia could open his mouth.

Akefia snorted, shaking his head. He grabbed a pair of loose-fitting shorts and a plain black t-shirt, throwing on an emerald button up t-shirt and leaving it open over his chest. Walking to the bathroom, he took note of the soreness of some of his muscles, even after the long hours of sleep. It wasn't as though he was unused to long fucking sessions with women in the past, even with short hours of sleep and work the next morning. But after the emotional drain and physical strain of strange non-mechanical actions, he felt every ache in his muscles.

After using the restroom, brushing his teeth, washing his face, he finally looked at himself in the mirror. Examining his own eyes, they seemed tired to him. Not just from sleep, but from everything. Warring emotions inside of you will leech your energy, he'd found. Shaking his head, he combed his unruly hair with the brush in a drawer Marik had not thought to look in, and walked back out once again to grab his phone.

On instinct he looked at it once more, forgetting he had already seen he had three messages from the previous night. Four, now. He felt… not as much guilt as he thought he would feel at ignoring Bakura and her messages or so long.

"Busy?"

"I've got stuff. It'll be fun."

"I guess you're passing, huh. Well whatever."

"Any particular reason on your ditching of me? I had personal news to share, plus you never pass up sex. Are you dead or something?"

Akefia's lips twitched. She was certainly not used to not getting what she wanted. Deftly, his fingers typed away a simple reply and sent it off before pocketing the device on silent and going out to join Marik.

"Not dead. Otherwise engaged. We'll talk and make up and out later, I have plans."

The waitress took their menus and left them to settle into the nice cushioned seats of the restaurant, stretching themselves to comfortability. They weren't feeling like their usual hangout, the Hangover Diner, and instead chose an actually reputable restaurant for their breakfast craving. Akefia had placed his order for Steak and Eggs and a coke, and Marik had finally made the choice of a Belgium waffle with strawberry sauce and a weird mixed drink unique to the place.

Sighing, the two grinned at each other. This was a good choice. They were both thanking the gods in the back of their minds that things weren't awkward. Not just now, anyway. They chattered and made small talk while they waited for their food, mostly about what Marik had missed of Akefia's job while he had been reclused. In sort, the answer was 'not much,' but Marik still liked listening to Akefia talk about what he was good at, and pretended to be interested.

Their food was set before them and – with the vigor of men starved for days – the two of them ripped into their respective plates. It wasn't until they were both about halfway done that the intensity slowed, and they were able to chew slowly and swallow, allowing room for conversation.

Akefia cleared his throat between bites. "Mn, so, Marik," he started, cautious. "Are you, ah, ready to go over all this?"

Marik shrugged, unabashedly speaking with a mouthful of waffle. "I'unno. I really only got one question to get answered. Other'n that, 'm good." He swallowed, taking a sip of his drink and looking at the other with raised eyebrows.

"…. And that would be," Akefia prompted after a moment of silence.

"Whether or not you want to do it again, dumbass," Marik snorted, rolling his eyes.

Ah. Akefia frowned into his plate. _Did_ he want to do it again? His immediate answer was 'no,' but…

"Here. Talk at me." Marik invited, raising his hands and making a 'come on' motion with his fingers. "Give me your internal monologue. Stuff sounds different out loud than inside sometimes, might help."

He offered out of something almost to cockiness. Marik knew Akefia quite well by now, and after all this time, he liked to think he could read him, sometimes better than he could read himself. And it would be his pleasure to inform him that, despite his ramblings and denials, yes, he indeed wanted to fuck again.

"Ngh, no thanks," he grumbled, spearing some of the steak on the end of his fork, a bit of egg trailing at the end. "I'll keep my thoughts to myself."

"Oh come off it," Marik rolled his eyes again, flicking a bit of strawberry syrup at him. It landed on his cheek and with a sour face, Akefia wiped it off as Marik continued. "You try to run away from what your body and mind are telling you. It's annoying. Truth is, you fucked me," Akefia's eyes shot up, glaring at him with a look that said 'keep it down.' "Well it's true," Marik shrugged. "You did. And you enjoyed it. All I'm asking of you is that we do that sometimes. Not all the time, not exclusively, not any of that other piddle 'n crap. I want us to be what we are, what we were, with some added occasional fucking on the side." He grinned, a wide, toothy grin.

"Really, it is to your benefit. Imagine us out on the town, in bars and parties and whatever, lookin' for chicks. We come up empty. Rather than let the night go to waste, we can go back to your place and still get laid. Say you're horny and Bakura ain't around. I'm a text away, and I'd know what I'm doing a great deal more than a whore off the street, I'm willin'a bet." He stole a bite of Akefia's eggs and munched on it, waiting for a response.

Akefia had none. He simply said nothing, still staring at his plate, pushing things around with his fork.

"…." Sighing exasperatedly, Marik stood and walked around the table to the other side of the booth, sitting beside Akefia.

"What are you-" the other was about to ask, but Marik cut him off.

"Ah… Ak_ee_fia…." He moaned into his ear, low, so only he could hear. "Oh _gods above…_"

Akefia froze, looking straight ahead, spine stiffening. Marik's hand had found its way to his thigh and started creeping up toward his crotch, panting into his ear. "Ah… nnn… Ak—_more! _Please…!"

"That's enough," Akefia said, voice monotone and controlled. His hand grasped Marik's wrist and pulled him away, scooting over.

Marik snorted and chuckled behind his hand as he plopped back over in his seat, spearing more waffle on his fork. "See? Much as you tell yourself you don't, you like it." He continued with his mouth full. "Like I said, it's possible to be attracted to one member of the same sex, and the entire opposite sex. Don't let this be such a big deal~"

Another bit of silence, where Akefia both cursed and blessed his involuntary blood flow, and then he nodded. "Fine," he conceded, muscles melting to a relaxed position again. "It does not seem like a bad deal. I'll do it."

"Good~" Marik purred, pushing his now empty plate away and stealing another bite of Akefia's eggs. "I knew you would be~"

Akefia just snorted and shook his head, sipping his coke. He had other questions, but… They can be left. They weren't important.

As the last of the ecstasy left him, Akefia pulled out of her and flopped to the side, lying on his back with his eyes shut. Bakura hummed, slowly squirming as she enjoyed the afterglow of her own orgasm. After a few minutes, she found herself enough to sit up, uncaring of her exposed, naked body.

"You look to be in higher spirits."

Akefia cracked an eye open, grinning at her. "Do I?"

"Far better than the last few times," she said, running her fingers through her tangled hair. "I was close to giving up on you."

"No need," Akefia hummed, moving his foot around to music she could not hear. "I'm good now."

"Things work out with what's his fuck?" She asked, eyes on her hair.

"In a way," he shrugged, moving his hands to clasp behind his head.

"'s that supposed to mean?"

"I fucked him. We're good now."

"Ah." Bakura stopped with her hair, and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Was that what he wanted?"

"Yep. I warred with it for awhile, but eventually gave in, and viola. All better."

She took another moment, then shrugged. "Whatever, I guess. You lucked out, huh. One party, and you got two fuckbuddies out of it."

Akefia only hummed, eyes on the ceiling.

Yeah. Fuckbuddies. Right…

**[[ A/N: Remember what I said about having more free time? My classes dumped a shitton of work on me. Sorry about the really late update, and the shortness of it, but I'm in the middle of exam rushes and work rushes. I worked on this during my free times between study sessions and shifts. Might be the next new chapter in three weeks or so when I get winter break. ]]**


	6. Chapter 6

The next few months passed rather smoothly. The main issues sorted through, Marik and Akefia were back to the way they used to be, laughing and joking, gaming and stuffing their faces. Now that that line had been set, Marik had taken to dancing around it, testing Akefia's various limits. When they were out together and Marik wanted sex, he would find his way to Akefia's side and moan in his ear, gasp, and somehow, invariably, his hand would find his way to the front of the other's pants. Annoyed and irritated though he would react, it never failed to end with the two of them catching their breath in Akefia's large bed.

In private, Marik instead teased him by planting big sloppy smooches on his lips, making a show of it in a very 'because I can' type of way. He would laugh and Akefia would scowl and wipe the saliva from his lips, shoving him playfully away. Sometimes, the joking sloppy smooches would result in hardcore make-out sessions; something which both of them seemed pretty darn okay in exploring the possibilities of.

But for the most part, they were back to being inseparable best friends, sex generally out of their minds when they were together. Friendship was first, sex was second. And, as Marik never failed to interject, food was third.

Bakura also was placated, a purring kitten, much more good-tempered now Akefia wasn't a ball of nerves every day. They would spend random nights together, Marik far from a topic of conversation. Happy in the role of 'fuckbuddy', neither of them inquired too much into the other's life, beyond what they were willing to share. They met, fucked, chatted, parted ways. It was a fairly regular occurrence, happening at least five times a month. Despite one of the suggestions Marik had given when they first discussed what they would do, Akefia didn't really venture to anyone else for sex or companionship. He had his best friend and his occasional lover – his life was full. He was happy.

Or, that's what he would tell himself. There were nights he was alone, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts to himself. Those were the nights he hated. His thoughts didn't particularly make him at ease. When he glazed over them, took stock of his life, he was content. But looking deeper… He knew there was _still _something off. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, only that he was uneasy. Something was rocking his boat. But what on Earth could it possibly be?

Whichever way he looked at it, there didn't seem to be an answer. There was no one thing he was discontent with, he was feeling didn't live up to his expectations. Work was going fine – he was on top of things and due for a performance evaluation at the end of next month, which would result in a raise more likely than not. His social life was dandy, the occasional party or night out that he would partake in more than filling his need for extra human contact. He was eating fairly well, fast food being a once a week thing and the rest of the time being small packs of food that were generally balanced out. There was no real family to speak of, so it wasn't bad blood with them (can you have a bad relationship with a dead person?). Bakura was flirtatious and gorgeous, Marik was debonair and striking, and they were both his. What the fuck was his problem?

Scowling at himself, Akefia rubbed at his eyes and sat up in his bed. There was no easy answer that was going to come to him it looked like. But with the constant nagging feeling in his stomach, he couldn't quite settle down for sleep. Pushing himself out of the warm cocoon of blankets into which he had embedded himself, the man walked down the hall in his boxers, going to open his rarely opened closet door. In the small, cluttered space, he reached up and grasped a box fairly worse for wear. The contents rattled as he took it down and into his large hands, soft lavender eyes frowning down at them. Inside were a figure and many things of paint, as well as a small switchblade knife and paintbrushes. A figurine he was in the middle of carving.

He had stopped once he landed his job and his work demands took a toll on him so great that he had to suspend progress on it. The object had been out of his mind for months – but now, it was calling to him. 'Open me, play with me,' it called. His hands, itchy, twitching and restless, wanted to obey.

Taking the figure out of its dusty box, he looked it over, memories of hours spent whittling away at this thing flooding back to him. It was a mythological creature, one whom he always found utterly fascinating when he was a boy, a teen, and a student. Isis. The beautiful goddess of Egyptian mythology. Egypt, his parents' homeland.

Her body was carved in a rough and imprecise manner, her wings a vague shape. He still had hours and hours to spend on this, to bring out the inner beauty of her he could sense under his fingertips when he traced the wood.

Before he knew it, he was sitting at his kitchen table, a trashcan at his feet, the knife in one hand and the wood carving in the other. As if no time had passed, he began carving again, starting with her sides and large hips. Soon, she would be beautiful.

It wasn't until his alarm went off that he realized he'd been working all through the night.

BREAK

In the months that passed, Marik finally landed a job. Not just any job, but a job he actually _loved doing. _Somehow, he managed to find a western thematic restaurant in town in need of a new raw meat and various foods prepper. Essentially, he worked most days from 10 am to 7 pm, slicing, chopping, treating, rubbing, baking, skewering, and grilling various meats and vegetables for the restaurant. When he was outside with the barbeque, he was even permitted to smoke a cigarette. It was not unusual to see him with black markings on his hands, forearms and face, and for his already wild hair to be even moreso with the flames and charcoal he needed to keep the various fires going. He would go home, smelling of chicken, beef, and potatoes, and it wasn't long until his normally lanky arm muscles gained tone. He loved it all.

His demeanor improved immensely, noticeable especially to Malik (beyond Akefia, of course). Malik knew nothing of his new arrangement with Akefia, and frankly, he did not wish to. If Marik was happy and keeping out of trouble, that was all he needed to know. But he would be lying if he said anything other than how relieved he was to see a smile on his brother's face once more.

The free leftover meat he would sometimes get to bring home wasn't a bad addition, either. Marik picked up the skills very quickly. In no time at all he was grilling and slicing meat with ease, often humming along to whatever song on his iPod he had chosen to play that day. The kitchen was a large one, and Marik had the entire back portion to do whatever it was he liked. All he had to do was prep the meat and set it in a warming oven, or put the vegetables in the giant cooler, wherein the other chefs would come and use it in their various dishes.

The other cooks were okay, in Marik's opinion. Some were stuffy and didn't like him there, they were generally the elder ones, and the others were sort of annoying, but they joked around with him during work hours and didn't hesitate to help him make food when he was scheduled for lunch. Yes, this job was all around better than his horrid office job. The boss he had here barely showed up for work, and when he did, he kept far from Marik, save asking him a few routine questions about meat temperature averages and stocking needs. He didn't ask that the stock tables be done on seafoam paper, or that the temperatures be taken in triplicate. No – here, Marik was free. Happy.

The previous week, Marik had the pleasure of finding that the empty lot next door was being taken over by a construction company – the one to which Akefia was associated. This was absolutely perfect; he wouldn't have to hunt him down when he turned his phone off. As Akefia got to work a great deal earlier than Marik, and Marik left a good deal later than Akefia, there really was no way for them to meet after they both were done. At least not at either place of business.

Lunch however, was something they could do at the same time. On the first day of Akefia's working nearby, Marik took off for lunch at around one, making two meals while his boss' back was turned, and hummed to himself as he strutted off for the skeletal building. The iron framework and beginnings of glass and sheetrock were installed, and so Akefia was still doing run-throughs, double checking with architects, informing construction workers, taking photos, and making plans and estimates as to how much wiring they would need.

He stood in a construction hat, white tank top, and dusty work jeans, boots, and gloves, pointing out a portion of the building to two other people dressed exactly the same as him.

"Hey dumbass, I brought food for you," Marik grinned, calling at the small group from a short distance away. Recognizing the voice, Akefia turned around, throwing him a grin, before turning back and saying something to the men that Marik could not hear. They departed fairly soon after that, leaving Akefia to stroll over to Marik, his hands in his pockets.

"Tracked me down already, huh?" he grinned, folding his arms over his chest and looking at the other. One was covered in dirt and grease, the other in charcoal and animal blood. Perfect for eating food.

"Of course. You doubt my skills?" Marik raised an eyebrow mock-challengingly, holding up a folded over brown paper bag. "It's a surprise what's inside. I threw a bunch of good sounding stuff in there together. Hope it's good, because there's no more where that came from."

Akefia just snorted, taking the bag from him and peering inside. There seemed to be four lumpy foodstuffs inside, wrapped in tin foil. He prodded at one of them briefly, finding it still warm, and shrugged his approval. "Come on," he hummed to him, jerking his head. "We can eat it at one of the break tables."

'One of the break tables' turned out to mean a bench and a wooden table set up beside one worker's truck. Marik had zero qualms with this and settled himself beside him on the bench, wiggling in contentment. "Got you some of the good stuff. Nothin' burned."

"Flattered," he responded, dumping out the paper bag's contents and setting out the various packages on the wooden surface. "So what are they?"

"That's a charbroiled burger I made right before I came over… That one is steak fries. This is a – uh – country fried steak? Dunno, just make the meat on that. They do some weird shit with it. That last one iiiis…" Frowning, he prodded the last one, forgetting what he put inside of it for a moment. "…. That might be another burger, but a triple."

Happily, he grinned at his friend, unaware or uncaring at the completely odd assortment of food he had procured. Akefia looked back at him with a straight face for a few moments, before he snorted, picking up the last package and starting to unwrap it.

"This will be my lunch **and** dinner tonight. In any case, thank you, I appreciate it," he chuckled, taking a bite of the lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheese dripping burger. It was greasy, not the sort of thing he was completely used to outside of McDonalds, but it was very good all the same. He chewed slowly, not wiping off the flecks of ketchup on the corners of his lips, and said nothing as Marik began doing the same.

They made small talk halfway through their meals, wherein Marik asked what he was doing with the building that day, and Akefia in turn asked how work was going for him. The chatter was meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but they both were fairly contented with the simple exchange, happy in spending some time together.

"Well," Akefia said eventually, cracking his back and stuffing the remainder of his food into the bag. "I think it's high-time I get back to work. Isn't your break over by now?"

Marik blinked and stole Akefia's wrist, looking at the watch underneath one of his gloves. "Huh. Shit. Yep, my break ended fifteen minutes ago. They're probably wondering where the fuck I am." He shrugged and stood as well. "Back to work, then."

Akefia gave him a smirk. "Thanks for the food, appreciated it. You cook some mean meat."

"There's a sexual innuendo somewhere in there, I think," Marik chuckled. Akefia smacked him in the back of the head.

Laughing, Marik waved, starting off for the back of his restaurant. Watching him go, Akefia paused a moment, then strode after him. Marik barely had time to register the noise of the footsteps before he felt a firm hand grasping his rear. He jumped. "Akefia -?" He started to chuckle.

"Call me when you get off work, eh?" Akefia grinned in his ear, playfully groping him again before letting go. "Sort of feeling like doing something. We should buy a new video game."

"Yes. Video games is exactly what I thought you had in mind," Marik laughed, shooing him away. "Yes, yes, that sounds fine. I have to go and see my brother for awhile first, then I'll give you a call." Grinning, he lightly shoved the other away. "Go back to work. Do your job~" he teased.

Giving an over-the-top bow, Akefia turned and walked purposefully back to the group of men he was supposed to be talking with, not giving Marik another glance. Marik only snorted again, heading back to the kitchen.

Video game time did sound like a good idea, he thought to himself, scrubbing up and catching up on what he missed during his elongated break. But… maybe a good idea for another night. He was feeling rather energetic this particular night, and he doubted simply playing video games would curb it.

BREAK

The front door slammed predictably as the other got home. Malik rolled his eyes. He wasn't exactly subtle in his comings and goings in their apartment, but at least now he was coming at relatively normal hours. "Back already, are you," he called from his place on the moth-eaten couch, folding down the corner of the book he was reading.

"Eyep," Marik answered, walking in and standing with arms folded across his chest to Malik's side. "Had to stay late, actually."

"I didn't notice," Malik shrugged, closing and putting the book to the side. "Did you happen to bring any food? I'm starving."

His twin brother nodded, jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the front door. "Got a bag of stuff. Just patties and fries today, though. We got buns?"

Malik shook his head, pushing himself to stand and making his way to retrieve the aforementioned bag. "No… But I can do without."

"We got anything around here," Marik asked, frowning and glancing at the kitchen. "I had this shit for lunch, I don't really want any more. My heart might explode."

"What a tragedy," he responded offhandedly, taking the bag to the kitchen. "You might find some cereal or waffle mix or something. I wasn't kidding. There's almost no food here. We'll have to do shopping this weekend…" He continued talking to himself, grabbing one of the last few clean dishes from a cabinet.

Marik pulled a face. "Eugh. I guess it's going out and eating for me. You eat whatever's in there, though. It's all for you anyway."

"Thanks," Malik genuinely thanked him, putting the patties on a plate and the plate (along with a cup of water to keep the meat from getting soggy again) in the microwave. "Where are you intending on going?"

"Dunno," Marik yawned, stripping his shirt over his head. "Akefia wanted to meet up and do something. I'm thinking I'll get noodles somewhere and then go to a bar," he shrugged.

Malik rolled his eyes at him. "Is that all you ever do."

"Hey, don't look at me like that. At least I do things. When was the last time you left here to go do something fun?"

Malik opened his mouth to retaliate, and then shut it again. "…." It was true. Malik did very little in the way of having 'fun'.

Marik frowned. He had been about to mock his brother further, but that really didn't seem very tactful. Even to him. "… You could come with us," he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"No thank you. I dislike that friend of yours," he wrinkled his nose. "He's rather brutish."

"Brutish," Marik repeated, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, brother of mine. The offer still stands."

Taking his phone out of his pocket, Marik turned away and covered one of his ears, dialing Akefia's number and leaving Malik to stand there, looking conflicted and disgruntled.

The phone rang as Marik made his way to his bedroom, shimmying out of his pants in the process. Ring, ring… Ring, ring…

Finally, a voice picked up on the other end. "About time. I was beginning to think you died in a grill or something."

"Cool way to die, but no, I'm very much alive," Marik grinned, rifling through his drawers.

"Pity. Do you want me to pick you up, or meet me somewhere?"

"Pick me up," he hummed, grasping a pair of black jeans and stepping into them carefully.

"Think of what game you want to buy?"

Marik paused, frowning before answering him. "Actually, I was thinking we could save that for another night. I'm feeling too energetic to sit and play a game."

There was silence, then, "Alright, I suppose. What did you want to do instead?"

"I want to swing by a place for food, then head to a bar. I'm thinking I'll find a gal and shit. Don't worry, I'll go to her place so you don't have to escort your date and me and mine around." He hummed, picking out a shirt.

Silence again. Akefia opened his mouth to answer, but quickly had to put his hand over the phone's speaker and cough, a loud, deep cough that sounded as though he had a respiratory problem.

"Akefia?" Marik asked after a minute, paused in his dressing at hearing the slight sounds of the cough. "Are you alright?"

The other cleared his throat, "Mm, nm, ah, no, actually. I feel rather ill, suddenly… I actually might throw u—" he paused again, a stabbing pain in his stomach keeping him from answering. "Gh. I think I can't go out, after all…."

Marik was frowning hard, holding the phone to his face. "Are you sure? Do you want me to come over, bring you some medicine? That was rather abrupt…"

Akefia coughed again. "No, no… Maybe I ate something funny…" He murmured, forgetting he had eaten Marik's cooking earlier and not realizing he was being a tad insulting. "I will just have to rain check for the time being… I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"…. Yeah. Sure," Marik sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Feel better."

The line went dead. Disappointed, Marik pocketed the device and ruffled his hair. There went his evening's plans. … Unless.

"Hey, Malik?" He called, returning from his bedroom to look for his brother. He was right where he left him; leaning on the kitchen counter and eating some of the food he had given him.

"Mm?"

"Akefia cancelled on me. Why don't the two of us go out? It could do you good."

Malik blinked, slightly taken aback. The two of them never hung out together. But as he thought the idea over while chewing a large cut of meat, he really couldn't see anything wrong with it. It even sounded… fun.

"… Sure. I'll just have to change first."

A half-grin on his face, Marik nodded, returning to his room to finish getting dressed. Well, if Akefia was sick, that was unfortunate, but he wouldn't have to waste his evening after all. He and Malik could pick up girls together. Some dug the identical twin thing.

BREAK

As he hung up on the other, Akefia turned around from his place in his own kitchen and retched into the sink. What could have made him so ill so quickly? He lifted a hand to his forehead, moving the hair away from his sticky skin. Stomach bug maybe?

Retching again, he pushed himself away from his sink and stumbled for his bathroom. In the safety of the enclosed area, he let himself vomit into his toilet, one hand holding back his hair, the other wrapped tightly around his midsection.

Panting and flopping back when he no longer felt quite so ill, Akefia shakily reached for a washcloth, patting his face dry once more. He felt… Better. Not 100%, but better. Something was still making his stomach churn, but he did not feel as though he would be sick again. Not just now, at least.

Standing and washing his face and brushing his teeth, Akefia looked at himself in the mirror. He looked paler than usual. Frowning, he glanced at his bed out of the corner of his eye.

Without realizing what he was doing, his hand was going to his phone, flicking through his contacts until he found the number he wanted.

"Come over here. Right now. No questions."

He fell onto his bed and waited for Bakura to arrive. He couldn't explain it, but right now, he needed Bakura. He needed to see her, grasp her, hold her, fuck her. Right now.

He lay there, eyes closed, mind mercifully blank as the shaking in his body and sweats in his face went down, going away completely once he heard that front door open.


End file.
